A YuGiOh! Horror Movie
by RayeMoon
Summary: My Fourth Annual Halloween Horror Fic. Warnings: Violence, gore, yaoi, death ? , extreme language. Mostly JoeyxYugi, some YamixSeto. Please read and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Halloween**

"Holy shit!"

Startled, Yugi dropped the plate he'd been drying. It shattered on the tiles of the kitchen floor, but he paid no mind, already running to the living room before the shards had finished sliding in all directions. Dropping the dish towel in the hallway as he ran, he darted into the living room.

"Joey, what's wrong?"

Joey looked up over the back of the couch with a grin. Yugi could just see the top of his laptop on the coffee table in front of him. At what had to be a look of minor panic on Yugi's face, Joey's grin faded.

"What's the matter?"

"Me? You shouted! What happened, are you hurt?"

Joey's gleeful look had completely changed to dismay. "Oh, no, Yug'. I just… saw something… neat."

Yugi let his breath out, his heart beginning to return to a normal rhythm after the short burst of adrenaline brought about by fright. He ran a hand through his hair and put his other hand on his hip. "I dropped a plate! *What* is such huge news?"

Looking embarrassed, Joey pointed to the screen of his laptop. "Um. Erica Lynch is coming to Domino."

Joey had shouted like he'd broken his arm, and all he'd done was read something off the internet? Sometimes he really could be a spaz. Yugi frowned, now a bit annoyed. "Who?"

Joey's apologetic expression was reversing back to his ecstatic expression. Grinning broadly, he settled back against the backrest of the couch, still looking at Yugi over it. "Erica Lynch! The filmmaker."

Yugi gave Joey an impatient stare. "The horror movie films?"

Joey nodded excitedly. He was a huge fan of horror movies, especially a series of ultra-gory films that had been coming out once a year for the last five years. Yugi forgot the series title, because he didn't like them himself. He watched them with Joey to share in something the blonde enjoyed, but every time, he ended up with his face in Joey's shoulder, cringing and nauseous.

"Yeah, her. She's coming to Domino! Look, she's having a casting call downtown this Saturday!" Joey turned back to the computer. "Open auditions. Wow, I'm there. I'm totally going to go down and watch. Maybe I'll get her autograph!"

Joey was immersed in musing out loud about Erica Lynch coming to Domino. Yugi turned and went back into the kitchen, picking up the dish towel on the way. He shook it out, threw it on the counter, then went to the pantry to pull out the broom and dust pan. He set the pan on the floor and started to sweep up the shards of ceramic when Joey's hand grabbed the top of the broom handle and held on. Yugi looked up to see Joey behind him, his face apologetic again.

"Let me get that, it's my fault."

"It's okay. I've got it."

Joey slowly let go of the broom. As he stepped back and leaned against the counter with his arms folded, Yugi swept up the shards of ceramic and put them into the pan. He emptied the pan into the trash and then put pan and broom back into the pantry. When he turned back to the sink and the drainer full of dishes, he smiled at Joey.

"Okay. Tell me about Erica Lynch."

Joey grinned broadly. "She's only the greatest horror director of the time! She's won tons of awards. Her films are real high-tech, win all the Scream Awards every year, and she even got a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards last year. And she's really neat, real weird in the way she does stuff."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, grabbing another plate and the towel and going back to drying.

"She never hires anyone that anyone would know. No big name stars, or typical B-horror film stars. She goes to cities and hires people right off the street, after they pass her auditions."

"That's not too unusual, is it? Actors have to get their start somewhere."

"Yeah, but she only uses people one time. After they make their movie, they're never in anything ever again. She says she never uses an actor twice. It's her thing. And it's always a huge success. Her movies are always top rated."

Yugi smiled, drying another plate and a cup. "What's the movie this time?"

Joey shrugged his shoulders. "No one knows. No one's sure if it's going to be another Deathstrike film, or if she's doing something new. There's zero news, it's all real hush-hush. All of her fans are real excited. So, will you come with me?"

"Where? To the thing downtown?"

"Yeah. It's Saturday at two. She'll show up and promote this new movie-"

"A new movie not even made?"

"Not even cast," Joey said with another grin. "Anyway, she'll be promoting it, tell us whether it's a new project or another Deathstrike-"

"How many will that make?"

Joey waved his hand impatiently. "Six. So? They're great! They're not just some stupid chophouse films where the entire movie is people getting their limbs hacked off and their teeth torn out-"

"But they are about that," Yugi said. "It's why I'm hiding in your shoulder after every movie."

Joey flashed a brief suggestive smirk, but went on about the movies. "They are, but that's not all they're about! They have great plot. You just don't know that 'cause the first death has you hiding in my lap, like you said."

"I said your shoulder, not your lap."

"Anyway, she's going to be there, telling us more about her new movie, maybe sign some autographs, maybe even hire some actors for it right there! Will you come with me?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, pal!"

Yugi put up the last of the dishes and hung up the towel. As soon as he had done that, he started making more dishes to clean as he set about making dinner. Joey had gone back to the living room to finish reading whatever he'd been reading about the upcoming promotion. Shaking his head at the popular fixation on gory kill-films, Yugi set about making the lasagna and salad dinner he'd been planning. As he was sliding the pre-made lasagna into the oven, he heard the dryer timer go off.

"Joey, laundry!"

As he starting cutting tomatoes for the salad, he heard Joey walk into the laundry room annex off the kitchen. "The movie's supposed to be out in March," he said over the sound of the dryer door opening.

"It's already October."

"Yeah. They film 'em starting right around Halloween, and they're usually out in theaters like five months later. I guess it would go faster without a lot of big-name actor negotiations and schedule arranging and all that stuff, right?"

Yugi moved on to the red onions. "I guess. Doesn't seem like a very good horror movie month, March."

"Everyone does October," Joey said dismissively. "This gives us horror buffs a mid-year horror thrill."

Joey appeared in the doorway of the annex, holding one of his shirts that he was fitting onto a hangar. Hanging it up on the top frame of the door, he grinned around the shirt.

"I can't wait to see her," he said.

Yugi looked pointedly at the calendar thumb-tacked to the wall beside the microwave, waving the knife he'd now been using to slice a cucumber. "Joey, it's only Wednesday."

"I know," Joey complained, a second and third shirt joining the first.

Shaking his head, Yugi scraped the diced tomatoes, red onions, and cucumbers he'd sliced into a bowl. He put plastic wrap over it and the bowl containing the lettuce, and popped both into the refrigerator before glancing at the pot in which a few eggs boiled. Beside it, a second pot held green beans waiting to start heating.

"I wonder if she'd sign my DVD cover of the first Deathstrike?" Joey said musingly as he hung up two pairs of pants.

"Is she nice?"

"I don't know. She seems real happy and friendly in her TV interviews. She's always joking with the announcer."

"Well, take it along and see."

"I wonder if anyone we know will get cast in the movie? Since she'd here in Domino, she'll pick her entire cast from the city. She does that every time; doesn't leave a city until the whole movie is cast from locals, even if it takes a week of promotions."

"That's odd."

"Yeah, I know. I bet a thousand people show up."

"Is she that popular?"

Joey gave him an exasperated look. "As big as Duel Monsters. Especially 'cause of the whole Deathstrike curse."

Yugi frowned, turning the green beans on low heat and then pouring a package of raspberry tea mix into a pitcher and holding the pitcher under the faucet. "What's that?"

"Every Deathstrike movie's had some sort of tragedy attached to it. On set, after filming, something. With the first one, one of the actors committed suicide right after."

"That's horrible." Yugi turned the burner off from under the boiled eggs with his free hand while he set the full pitcher of raspberry tea on the counter with the other. He started to stir it with a long wooden pitcher spoon. "But why is that a curse?"

Joey's expression grew solemn in a way that said he was setting the mood. As Yugi finished stirring the raspberry tea, Joey suddenly pulled open the utility drawer and drew out the flashlight kept inside. With his other hand, he flicked the laundry room-side switch to turn off the kitchen lights, plunging the room into darkness that was broken only by lamp glow from the street at the front of the house. The flashlight flicked on and Joey held it under his chin, illuminating his features in the classic, warping manner of a scary storyteller.

"Brandon Taylor, first Deathstrike movie back in 2005, his character got his throat cut halfway into the film. Two days later, his mom found him in his apartment, throat slit ear to ear and the steak knife in his hand. He was sittin' on the couch, the TV was on, and there was a bowl of cold popcorn on the coffee table, like he'd sat down to watch a movie and offed himself halfway through."

"Joey, that's horrible!"

Joey's voice lowered to take on a creepy pitch, like he was actually telling a horror story. "Deathstrike II, 2006, Karen Mackey, the female lead, went missing. Totally disappeared. No one ever saw her leave the set the last night of filming, and she's never been found since."

"Joey…"

"Deathstrike III, the next year, 2007, Yuriko Watanabe, gets strung up by the killer, and while they were filming, she slipped off the scaffolding and actually got hung. Broke her neck, right on camera."

"They took they out, didn't they?" Yugi was starting to feel a bit queasy.

Joey didn't answer. "The fourth Deathstrike, in 2008, one of the set crew, don't remember his name, he got crushed to death when a runaway car jumped the curb and smashed him against the brick wall of a building downtown in St. Louis, in America, where they were filming."

"Isn't that enough? I get the point."

His voice taking on a tone of relish, Joey plowed on. He was walking closer to Yugi, his voice lowering to a very low, threatening pitch. "Deathstrike V, the next year, 2009, Usagi Shimatani, the slutty chick in the film, found out her boyfriend was cheatin' on her while she was filming. She went to his house after the wrap party and murdered him before killing herself. When the police found them, she'd slashed herself with the knife like a hundred times and bled to death, but not before she stabbed him right through his cheatin' heart and cut off his dick besides."

"JOEY!"

The flashlight flicked off. The sudden darkness dazzled Yugi's eyes once more.

"Okay, that's enough, turn the lights back on."

Silence.

"Joey, this isn't funny."

Yugi turned to reach for the second kitchen light switch panel that was on the wall beside the hallway entrance. In the dark, his back turned, he didn't see the movement. Joey grabbed him in the dark with a loud, creepy laugh. Yugi screamed, then struggled in Joey's grip with a few muttered curses. Still holding onto him with one arm, Joey flicked the hall-side switch to turn the kitchen lights back on. He was laughing uproariously.

Yugi twisted out of his grip and rounded on him. "That was mean! That stuff isn't funny, it's horrible!"

"Of course it is. But it puts you right in the mood for a horror movie. It is October, ya know. Halloween's right around the corner."

Yugi straightened his twisted shirt. "Did you have to tell me all that stuff right before dinner?"

Joey raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah. Lasagna, with all that sauce that's all thick… and red…"

Yugi huffed in exasperation and disgust and left the kitchen as Joey laughed. Out in the living room, he saw that Joey had left his laptop on, and it was still tuned to the Erica Lynch fansite. The screen didn't go to screen saver until about twenty minutes after he left it idle, because he frequently sat and read horror and fantasy E-books and fan fiction and didn't like to be interrupted with the scrolling graphics.

The header to the website faded from mauve to lilac from bottom to top and across it ran black, Gothic-style letters spelling out Erica Lynch: Queen of Gore. Below that and also center on the screen was the movie poster for the first Deathstrike film, featuring a buxom twenty-something girl in a halter top and jean shorts putting her hands up defensively to ward off whatever was off screen on the left that cast a menacing shadow on the floor before her. Her face held an expression that was the definition of terror. Above the poster, in neon-green letters, read the legend: "The movie that started a phenomenon of horror!"

Yugi sat on the couch and used the mouse to scroll down. Below the picture was a short bio of Erica Lynch, giving her age as fifty-two, her career as containing twenty-four major motion pictures, two short films, and a documentary of a fellow horror director, now deceased. It listed her birthplace as Eerie, Indiana, which seemed appropriate, and degrees in photography, film, and, oddly, biology from two colleges in Indiana. She was the mother of twin adult boys, a stepson, and a stepdaughter. She'd been married four times, and divorced four times. Yugi wondered if that was because of her constant immersion in depravity.

Below, in clickable thumbnails, in a triple row of eight, were the posters to every Lynch horror movie, from all five current Deathstrikes to a lovely trilogy entitled "Gut Ripper" to a stand alone movie featuring a hung man dangling from a dead-looking tree entitled "Town of Death." Beneath the man and to the front right corner was a population sign that had 2,045 crossed off and 2,044 written in what looked like blood beneath it. Yugi studied the picture of Town of Death with distaste, disturbed by how realistic the hanged man looked. His face was swollen and purple, his tongue hanging out of his sagging mouth, his eyes bulging and rolled up towards the back of his head.

"Looks real, don't it?"

Yugi jumped, then whirled to glare at Joey, who was standing behind the couch. Joey held up his hands.

"Hey, I didn't mean it that time!"

"How can you like this stuff?" Yugi asked, gesturing to the picture of Town of Death.

"It's just fiction, Yug'. Fake." Joey rounded the couch and sat down beside him, clicking the next button in the slideshow of posters to reveal "Nails and Hacksaws." It looked like an older film, but featured a woman in a torn and bloody negligee crucified to a wall by nails run through her hands. A hacksaw lay sideways in a pool of blood beneath her left leg, which ended in a ragged stump. The other half of the leg lay at an angle to the saw. "Just entertainment," Joey added casually.

"Entertainment?" Yugi wrinkled his nose at the Hacksaw poster and clicked next automatically to navigate away from the it, only to land on the next in line, the poster for Deathstrike II. On the poster was a very pretty, very young-looking girl with her hair in a brown ponytail and wearing a nightgown, sitting up in bed against the headboard, clutching a pillow to her chest while she stared at the viewer with a look of haunted fear on her face. Her hazel eyes were wide and her mouth hung partially open as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing coming at her from the angle of the viewer. "Is that Karen Macklin?"

"Mackey. Yeah, that's her." Joey tapped the screen lightly with his finger. "She disappeared right after the fifth day of filming. Erica said they didn't even get to finish her part, had to rewrite the film."

Yugi stared at the terrified face of Karen Mackey and felt dread weigh in his chest. He guessed it had to do with looking at the photo of a girl who would, not long after it was taken, disappear without a trace. "That's not entertainment," he said. "That's being morbid."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. He glanced at Yugi, then moved the mouse and clicked the X button, turning off the internet browser. "You're still coming with me, aren't you?"

Yugi sighed and nodded. "I promised."

Joey grinned, shutting off the laptop and flipping the lid closed. "Thanks, Yug'." Another lizard grin spread across his face and he said in the same creepy tone from the kitchen, "You won't regret it. Or will you?"

Yugi shoved him and got to his feet. "Sometimes, Joey, I don't know what I see in you."

Joey laughed, pushing himself upright. "It's these babies." He pushed back his sleeve and flexed his arm, making the biceps bulge.

Yugi laughed and shook his head, returning to the kitchen to finish making dinner. Hanging from the frame of the laundry room annex was a neat row of shirts and pants belonging to both of them, and on the floor beside the wall was the washing basket full of neatly folded bath towels, washcloths, dishcloths, and dishtowels. He smiled and picked up the spoon to stir the green beans that were simmering in another pot.

"Hey, Spiky, you're not mad at me, are you?"

Joey had snuck up on him again, but this time Yugi didn't jump, just standing still as Joey wound his arms around his waist and kissed the top of his head.

"No."

"'Cause I was being a jerk before."

"Yes."

"Hey!"

"You said it, not me."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to agree! Where's the sweet guy I fell in love with, who'd assure me I'm the best guy in the world?"

"Cowering in the corner of my mind after all that, so Mean Yugi took over."

"Aww, man. I hate Mean Yugi. He's mean to me."

"Gee, I wonder why?"

"Will Nice Yugi come back for dessert?" Joey asked with a suggestive, and hopeful, note in his voice.

"Maybe, if you behave during dinner and not gross him out with more stories of people offing themselves over a bowl of popcorn."

Joey laughed, kissed Yugi on the top of the head again, then let him go and went to the cabinets to start setting the table. Yugi turned the burner off from under the green beans, drained them and put them into a bowl, peeled and sliced the boiled eggs, then transferred the beans, the salad and its fixings, and the raspberry tea to the table. By the time the table was set and everything else on it, the lasagna was done. It would cool by the time they finished with the salad, so he put on the oven mitts and transferred it to the pan mats on the center of the table.

"Tristan likes those Deathstrike movies, doesn't he?" Yugi asked as he speared a cucumber in his salad bowl.

Joey looked up in surprise, since it was Yugi who had brought up the topic of horror at the dinner table. "Yeah, he does. I like seeing 'em with you, though. You're more fun to hold."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Would he like to go with us on Saturday?"

"I dunno, I can ask. Tea, too. Think Yami'll go?"

"He and Seto won't be back yet."

"Oh, yeah."

Yugi's other half had been lovers with Seto Kaiba for a year, and Seto had taken the former pharaoh to Bermuda for their anniversary, a move that had shocked Joey thoroughly for how romantic it was. They had left the previous Monday, a week before their anniversary, and wouldn't return until next Monday, a week afterward. Yugi had no need of postcards to know that Yami was having a fun time, no less because he was amusing himself trying to talk Seto into wearing swim trunks and sandals to the beach. The stuffy brunette, who had actually gone without a single electronic device on which to monitor Kaiba Corp save for an emergency cell phone, was still adamantly wearing his throat-to-ankles wardrobe, even in the middle of the Caribbean sun.

"What's he hiding?" Joey had once asked Yami teasingly when the young billionaire had shown up to a social porch dinner on a terrible scorcher still dressed in head-to-toe black. "Seven toes? Nasty, hairy warts? A tail?"

"Seto's body is quite perfect, actually," Yami had replied, a calculated answer to make Joey recoil.

"Ugh. Come on, Yami, spill. Is it a third nipple? No belly button? He's an alien, isn't he? Robot?"

"Wheeler, if you stop barking right now, I'll balance a treat on your nose," Seto had said coldly, having come up on the conversation behind the blonde.

Joey had jumped, but whirled around. What followed had been such a commonplace pissing match between the two that Yugi and Yami had moved away and started a different conversation.

"Yami got Kaiba in sandals yet?" Joey asked, almost following Yugi's train of thought himself.

"No."

"He's got to be hiding a tail or something," Joey said with a grin.

"Maybe he'd body shy."

Joey almost inhaled his tomato. "Kaiba? That punk hasn't been shy about anything in his life, and what's he got to be shy about?" At Yugi's raised eyebrows, he looked horrorstruck. "Ugh! I didn't mean it like that!"

"Yes, you did!" Yugi said with delight. "Joey, are you harboring fantasies about Kaiba?"

"No! No way!"

"Is *that* why you were talking in your sleep last night?" Yugi pressed, thoroughly enjoying messing with Joey as payback for earlier. Joey often talked in his sleep, and sometimes he was intelligible and sometimes he wasn't. "I couldn't understand you. Were you asking Kaiba for more?"

Joey gave him a dirty look, balled up his napkin and threw it at him. Yugi caught it, laughing. Joey speared a piece of boiled egg ferociously. Taking it off his fork so hard that the metal shushed against his teeth with the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, he said, "Hell, no."

Yugi laughed, but eased off. Finished with his salad, he set his bowl aside and served himself some lasagna and green beans. Joey calmed down by the time he'd finished his own salad and tucked into the lasagna with enthusiasm. They lapsed into pleasant chatter about a favorite restaurant they might visit later in the week until dinner was over.

"Mean Yug's been mean to me long enough," Joey said as they were putting away the leftovers and staking the dirty dishes in the sink. "It's time for Nice Yug' again."

"Have you earned it?" Yugi asked.

Joey rested his hands on Yugi's hips as he leaned against the counter, his own body pressing tightly up against Yugi's. Looking down at him, he smiled. "Nice Yug' can't stay away for long," he said. "Especially when *I* know all his favorite spots."

He darted in and started on the lobe of Yugi's left ear that was always a major erogenous zone. Yugi arched into him, hands on his shoulders, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He moaned as Joey suckled lightly on his earlobe, his hands squeezing his hips while his own rocked side to side, slowly rubbing against him. His knee pressed forward and his slid his leg between Yugi's thighs.

"Mmm…"

Joey's teeth gently grazed his earlobe, sending a tingle through Yugi. His hands moved from hips to Yugi's butt, cupping and kneading lightly as he pulled Yugi against his thigh. The friction and pressure against his balls made Yugi mewl. He was growing rapidly hard, the air in the kitchen suddenly too stuffy as Joey eased him back again, his body already tingling lightly from the three-pronged attack.

"Joey…"

Joey raised his head and kissed Yugi full on the mouth, tongue flicking against his lips before invading. He pulled Yugi forward again, swallowing his cry. His hands came forward to undo the belt, button, and zipper of his pants, pushing them open a little over his boxer-clad erection. His shirt was half untucked, lips already kiss bruised.

"You know," Joey said abruptly, pulling back with a wicked grin. "Mean Yugi didn't earn nothing. He was mean to me. You know, there's ice cream in the fridge. That's fine for dessert."

Yugi stared at Joey as the blonde walked across the kitchen to the refrigerator, still grinning at him over his shoulder. Glaring, Yugi pushed away from the counter. Joey laughed and ran from the kitchen. Yugi gave chase, having to hold up his pants with one hand. They pounded up the stairs to the bedroom, where Joey turned and caught Yugi as he jumped on him, tumbling in a controlled fall into bed with Yugi on top.

"Okay, okay. If Mean Yug's got to have it-"

"Shut up!" Yugi kissed Joey hungrily, grinding pointedly against the erection he'd known would be there. Joey's moan vibrated against his lips.

The phone ringing made them both jump and their foreheads clacked together. Yugi winced, rolling off of Joey and rubbing his forehead as he reached for the phone.

"Who the hell is calling at this hour?" Joey demanded angrily, rubbing his own forehead. Though it was only eight o'clock, it was far too late for a sales call. "Let me answer it."

Knowing that Joey would answer with a string of obscenities, Yugi picked up the phone and raised it to his ear. "Hello?"

Silence.

"Hello?"

Silence, then a soft shushing sound. Breathing, it sounded like.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

"Who is it, Yug'?"

More breathing. Yugi sat up, frowning.

"Who is this?"

"Give me the phone, Yug'."

There was a click, and a pause, and then the dial tone. Yugi slowly hung up, then stared at the phone. Joey, laying on his side beside him, looked up into his face.

"Who was it?"

"A wrong number, I guess."

"What'd they say?"

"Noth-"

The phone rang again. Yugi picked it up. "Hello?"

More silence. Then breathing.

"Who is this?"

Breathing. Then, a soft, menacing laughter.

The hair on Yugi's nape stood on end. "Is this some idea of a joke?"

"Give me the phone." Joey sat up and jerked it out of his hand and raised it to his ear. "Hel-"

He didn't even finish the word before the caller hung up, judging by his expression. He leaned over Yugi and set it back in the cradle.

"What did they say?"

"Nothing. It was just silence. Well, and they laughed."

"Laughed?"

"Yeah, like… " Yugi did his best to imitate the threatening laughter.

"What the fuck?"

"It must have been a prank. It's weird, though, coming after you told me all those stories about the Deathstrike curse." Suddenly suspicious, Yugi frowned at him. "You aren't playing a prank on me, are you? That wasn't Tristan, was it?"

"No way." Joey held up his hands. "Come on, Yugi, I might mess with you, but I ain't an asshole."

The phone rang again. Furious, Joey nearly flattened Yugi reaching for it. He snatched it up. "Listen, you motherfucker-"

"Joey!"

"If you call here threatenin' my boyfriend again, I'll-" He stopped in mid-sentence, glared, then slammed the phone down. "Hung up again."

"This is weird," Yugi said. All the hair on his arms was standing up, and he rubbed them both to try to get it to lay down again.

"Don't worry about it, Yug'. It's probably some stupid little punk making crank calls. They happen all the time."

"Yeah, but-"

"Just coincidence it happened after the Deathstrike stuff. Besides, even if it was no coincidence, it's just some jackass playing around 'cause there's a horror movie director comin' to town. It was online, so it's no secret."

The phone rang again. Joey uttered another oath and snatched up the handset. "Bastard, you fuckin'… Oh…" Face whitening, Joey said in a strangled, mortified voice, "Hi, Serenity."

Yugi smacked his face into his palm. Never mind that they'd just received a few eerie phone calls, he was asking for it answering like that. Yugi lay down, legs still hanging over the edge, rubbing his face with his hands in agitation while Joey apologized and hem and hawed against explaining why he'd answered the phone the way he had. Sighing, Yugi sat up, ducked under the phone cord, and padded into the bathroom for a shower. His arousal had faded completely now.

Undressing, he stepped beneath the warm spray and shampooed his hair. Letting it rinse out, he stared through the misty air at the ceiling, wondering who had called and why.

What did they want?

tbc…

A/N: Okay, this is my fourth annual Halloween Horror Fic. Let's see how it goes!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Yugi sighed as he and Joey pushed through the crowd gathered inside the courtyard of Domino Grand Hotel, where Erica Lynch would soon be arriving. This had turned into a weird festival of sorts, with hundreds of people walking around with DVDs, T-shirts, necklaces, bracelets, and even some masks based off of Erica Lynch's movies. There were vendors selling such memorabilia along with junk food. The people who had turned out ranged both genders, all ages, and all types, though the vast majority were the sort of punk-goth one typically expected with the macabre. In that case, Yugi noted ruefully, he fit in more than Joey, with his spiky tri-colored hair, black clothes, and chains.

They had arrived an hour ago, when the crowd was still at a manageable size, Joey dragging Yugi around at all the vendors to inspect what they had to offer. He had not bought anything but several hotdogs, a salt pretzel, and soda, but he was still excitedly examining all the T-shirts featuring the posters, DVD covers, and signatures of Erica Lynch. He appeared as excited as he ever had been with Duel Monsters.

"Check this out, Yug'!" he said, holding up a man's ring at yet another vendor's table.

"That's based off of the ring Hayden March wore in Sweet Dreams," the vendor said.

"Yeah, I know," Joey said with a grin. "Probably my third favorite movie by her."

"My fourth," the vendor said. "Chainsaw Lullaby was better."

Joey shook his head, but he turned his attention to Yugi, holding the ring so that he could see it. A thick, pewter ring, it featured a chain-link design around the band and on top was a heart with a dagger through it. Rather tame, compared to what Yugi had been expecting.

"You gonna buy it?" the vendor asked, a trifle impatiently as Joey tried it on. It fit rather well.

Joey, who had been too busy inspecting the ring to have looked at the price tag dangling from it, did so now. His brow wrinkled. "Fifteen dollars?"

"That's cheap," the vendor snapped. "My stuff's at least 10% cheaper than anywhere else. I've seen those rings go for twenty-five."

Joey frowned, but studied the ring.

"Just buy it if you want it, Joey," Yugi said. "I haven't seen any other rings around here."

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, how often is Erica Lynch going to be coming to Domino?"

"Just once," the vendor said, now a bit nicer now that there was a possibility of a sale. "She always does."

Joey grinned again, setting the ring down so he could reach into his back pocket for his wallet. "Yeah. How cool is she chose us?"

"Have you seen her before?"

"Nah. She's usually in America. Last time she was in Japan, it was Kyoto, and that was too far, then."

The vendor took Joey's twenty and reached into his moneybox for a five. "Oh, yeah, that was almost ten years ago. You'd've been like ten or something."

"Twelve," Joey corrected, taking the five. He picked up the ring, tore off the price tag, and slid it onto his middle right finger.

"Hey, guys, her limo's down the street!" another Lynch fan said. "Better hurry up and get over there."

Joey whooped and hurried towards the circular driveway in front of the hotel where the limo would be dropping Erica Lynch off. It was already lined with fans, while a podium had been erected in the middle of the grass space for her to make a speech. Joey grabbed Yugi's arm to keep him from being lost in the crowd and pulled him along with him as he forced his way to the front. A few people muttered some unkind things to which Yugi apologized, but Joey ignored. He didn't stop until he'd forced his way right to the front, hauling Yugi along with him. They stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, where they had a good view of the podium from the left front angle. On either side of the podium and behind it were two giant cardboard theater displays. One of Deathstrike I and the other of a movie called Murder Ranch. It featured an empty animal pasture in the foreground, and an ominous ranch house in the background, alongside which was an empty car with its passenger front door hanging open. The sky was dark and cloudy, and the overall tone was abandonment, except for the car, which spoke of someone dragged away.

Yugi shivered.

The limo made an appearance. Jet black, of course, it turned into the circular and cruised slowly along as people cheered and waved and jumped up and down. As it passed along the opposite side of the circular from where Joey and Yugi stood, Yugi tried to see inside, but the windows were tinted black. The limo stopped at the doors to the hotel, where a group of four security guards were keeping the crowd behind barriers. There was the slightest pause, during which the crowd repeatedly cheered and chanted Erica Lynch's name. Then the back door opened and three people climbed out- two men and a woman. The people near the hotel went nuts. They pressed against each other, leaning over the barriers, and screamed and cheered.

The woman, mostly blocked from view by the limo, the cardboard cutouts, and her two companions, turned to each side and waved. The limo pulled away and she turned toward the podium, crossing the circular with her companions, and mounted it. Now Yugi got a good look at Erica Lynch.

She was a thin woman of medium height, with thick, wavy hair that was raven black. Her large eyes were the grey of storm clouds and her skin was smooth and lightly tanned. Despite being over fifty, the only wrinkles were crow's feet at the corners of her eyes. Her body was in good shape and she dressed impeccably in a woman's black pantsuit and a shell-pink blouse. Her face was pretty, with the vestiges of what must have once been breathtaking loveliness.

"There she is," Joey breathed next to Yugi.

"She's not what I was expecting," Yugi said.

"What were you expecting?"

"Someone who looked more like Ozzie Osbourne. She looks more like Sharon Stone with black hair."

Joey laughed. "She used to act before directing. Her first film was Beauty That Kills. She was a knockout then."

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen!" Erica cried into the microphone. Her voice was robust and cheerful. "Are you ready for more blood?"

The crowd roared in agreement.

"Are you ready for more guts?"

More screams of agreement.

"More horror and terror?"

A third wave of cheering accompanied her question. Erica smiled broadly, pulling the microphone from its stand.

"That's what I like to hear! Domino City is going to be a great place for horror this year, I can feel it! Do you want to know what this movie's all about?"

She sounded like any camp counselor gearing kids up for a fun summer. As she waited through the fresh howling from the audience, the two men with her stood on either side of her, unsmiling and dour. They were clearly the twin sons her biography had mentioned. Blond, muscular, freckled, they were identical. They looked like they couldn't wait for the promotion to be over with.

"It's a new project," Erica said. "Sorry, all you Deathstrike fans."

There was some groaning, but mostly just expectant silence. Erica smiled again. As she spoke, she turned from side to side, speaking to the whole audience. She did not seem like the type to glorify death and dismemberment.

Her sons did.

"The working title is Massacre Valley, but that could easily change. We need eight stars and about two dozens extras. Will I find them here in Domino?"

The crowd screamed the loudest yet. Erica stepped off the podium, moving around to its front and facing the majority of the crowd.

"I'll be searching for the cast for the next two weeks. If you want to be an extra or have a bit part in the film, grab an application from Mark or Matt-" She indicated the two unsmiling twins, "and then show up with it filled out tomorrow at noon, Monday at five, or Wednesday at five here at the hotel. The desk clerk will tell you the right meeting room. As for those eight stars, if you've never heard of my process before, I will decide whom I want to audition. There will be no form auditions for those. I will be touring Domino and looking for my next stars myself. Hold your breath- it might be you!"

Erica turned and put the microphone back as the crowd roared its approval. The filmmaker turned back to the hotel, but did not go inside. Instead, she turned to her left and started to greet her fans while her twins disappeared rudely into the hotel. As a pair of the security guards walked with her, Erica shook hands with no one, but she accepted proffered pads of paper and pens for autographs. There were so many people out that it seemed it would take her forever to reach where Joey and Yugi were standing. At least she had started on their side.

It didn't take as long as Yugi had thought. Erica signed only a third of what was thrust at her. She smiled and thanked people again and again, but kept a fairly brisk pace. Yugi did not blame her. Joey's estimate of a thousand strong turnout had probably missed the mark by two or three hundred.

Joey was shifting excitedly beside Yugi as Erica drew nearer. He and Yugi were right up against the barriers thanks to Joey's insistent maneuvering and they were being pressed forward by the crowd. If the guy behind Yugi got any closer, he'd have to buy him dinner.

Erica made it over to them at last. She accepted Joey's DVD and pen and briskly signed in a large, spiky script. She started to hand it back when she looked him full in the face for the first time. She stopped, her storm-grey eyes moving back and forth over Joey's face. Joey, who had been reaching for the DVD and pen, stopped too, and looked worried.

"Uh, Ms. Lynch?"

"What's your name?"

"Joey Wheeler."

She didn't seem to recognize him as the Duel Monsters player, but she smiled nonetheless. She was looking at Joey like he was the only person she wanted to see. Then her eyes flicked to Yugi and her smile widened. She looked excited. Still holding the DVD and pen, the items forgotten, she said brightly, "I've found my first two stars!"

Joey's jaw dropped. Yugi knew his own had done the same. As people stood around them in equally shocked silence, Erica stood beaming, as if the pair of them had made her proud.

"Wh-What?" Joey finally stammered.

"Oh, yes! My first two stars, I'm sure of it."

"But… we don't know how to act, we've never been in anything before!"

"Are you a fan of mine, or not? That's how I do it!"

A few people laughed. Joey continued to stare in shock, and Yugi couldn't get his mouth to work either. Erica transferred the pen in one hand to the other one still holding the DVD, then reached up, briefly holding Joey's chin.

"Absolutely, I want you in my movie. You've got the blond good looks perfect for the Adam character. A handsome face, a good body. It's like it was written for you!"

Joey blushed as Erica released his chin and took a step back, looking him over and nodding to herself. Then she looked at Yugi.

"And you! You're the most unique person I've ever seen! What a beautiful face you have, and such lovely eyes! I have to have you, too."

People were starting to whisper the news to each other. In a couple of minutes, nearly everyone was murmuring to each other while they stared at Yugi, Joey, and Erica. Yugi opened his mouth to speak, and nothing came out. Joey was looking around from side to side, and he was starting to grin. He liked attention and he had a healthy sense of self-worth, and it was clear this was beginning to appeal to him. Yugi, who had always hated being the center of attention, wanted to tell Erica that there was no way, but everyone was staring at him.

"So, will you do it?" Erica asked. "Be warned, I don't like no."

Joey was grinning fully now. He clapped his arm around Yugi's shoulders and announced, "Yeah!"

Yugi looked up at him in horror. He started to protest, but Erica overrode him.

"Great! Excellent! Come here, come here."

She grabbed the sawhorse barrier in front of Joey and Yugi herself and yanked it away, making an opening for them to walk through. She hooked her arm through Joey's other, pulling him through the opening of the barrier, and since Joey still had his other arm around Yugi, he was pulled along, too. The security guards were quick in putting the barrier back into place, keeping the rest of the fans back, though no one tried to break through. The whole crowd was still whispering and craning to see. As Erica guided Joey towards the podium from which she'd had her speech, Yugi looked around in self-conscious horror, his mind stuttering as he tried to protest feebly. He was ignored by both Erica and Joey.

"I have terrific news!" Erica said as she grabbed the remote again, let go of Joey, and faced the majority of the ground before the podium. Joey turned Yugi around to face the same way and Yugi's voice died in his throat again as he was confronted with hundreds of people staring. "I've found my first two stars!"

The crowd began to cheer. Erica put her hand over the microphone and leaned over to Joey and Yugi.

"What's your name?" she asked Yugi.

"Yugi Moto," Yugi squeaked.

"That sounds familiar. So does Joey Wheeler in fact."

"We're-"

"Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler, my two newest stars, ladies and gentlemen!" Erica cried into the microphone. "They've agreed to be in the movie!"

Yugi's protest was again drowned out, this time by a roar from the crowd so loud that it sounded as if a building were falling. He stared out at the crowd and he felt pinned beneath a spotlight, unable to move. Joey was grinning and laughing beside him, arm still around his shoulder, waving with his other hand. Yugi could just stand beside him, shocked and paralyzed.

They were going to be in the movie.

tbc...

A/N: I'm a little disappointed in only two reviews (thank you, very much, those who did!), but it IS a new story, so I just got to be patient. This time, since we're so close to Halloween, expect a chapter or two (maybe 3) every day. At least, I'll try. I don't expect to be done by Halloween, of course. Enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Yugi opened the door to their apartment, hanging his keys from the key rack beside the front door. Joey bounded in behind him and immediately made a beeline for the refrigerator. He set his signed DVD cover and the pen on the counter and opened the fridge, grabbing a soda. He snagged the phone off the wall over the counter with his other hand.

"Wait 'til I tell T about this!" he said cheerfully to Yugi. "Us, being in an Erica Lynch flick!"

Yugi frowned. Joey's smiled faltered. "Yug'?"

"You're still going to do it?"

"What do you mean? Yeah, I'm still going to do it! Aren't you?"

"Joey, I can't be in a movie!"

Why not? You've been in front of cameras loads of times!"

"Yeah, during duels. And the Grand Prix promotions. This is a little different!"

Joey hung up the phone. He set his unopened can of pop on the counter, then came over, putting his arms around Yugi.

"I guess I should have kinda asked you, shouldn't I? But I was just so excited! Yug', this is awesome! Please, tell me you'll do it!"

Yugi looked up at Joey in horror. Joey looked back down at him, his smile pleading. He rubbed Yugi's back gently.

"We don't know how to act," Yugi said weakly.

"She always takes people off the street, and the movies always turn out awesome. Bet she'll coach us."

Yugi bit his lip worriedly.

"Please, Yug'?"

"Joey…"

"I know you hate cameras and attention, Yug', but I never understood why. You're totally awesome, and everyone knows it."

Yugi flushed and looked down. He didn't try to explain his fear of the spotlight. "You really think we can do this movie?"

"Yeah! And even if we can't, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! It'll be fun."

Yugi bit his lip again, then smiled and looked up at him. "Okay, Joey. I know how much these movies mean to you. I'll do it for you."

Joey grinned broadly. He hugged Yugi tightly and kissed him on the mouth. "Oh, thanks, Yug'! I promise, I'll do something for you, I owe you one. This is going to be awesome! Ah, I gotta call T!"

He kissed Yugi again, then let him go and grabbed the phone again. Yugi left him in the kitchen to call Tristan while he went out into the living room. He sat down on the couch and picked up the remote, flipping on the TV. As he flipped through the channels, he saw with surprise that the news was running a segment about Erica Lynch and her arrival in Domino. Footage of the promotion earlier at the hotel was being shown, and he saw himself and Joey on the screen, being shown off by Erica at the podium. The newscaster, sitting to the right of the video screen, was talking.

"… and as you can see here, local game legends Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler, of Duel Monsters fame, have been selected to star in the famous filmmaker's latest horror flick. Erica Lynch is famous for choosing people she meets on the streets to star in her movies, most of whom have never been before acted in any productions before and are never seen in movies again. She is also famous for the string of bizarre and tragic deaths accompanying the productions of her movies, especially the six-part series known as Deathstrike. Some say her movies are cursed, resulting in the untimely, and often brutal, demises of her actors. Erica Lynch has dismissed the claims, saying that if there are curses on her movies, she's not the only one. Here's what she's had to say on the matter."

The video of the promotion was replaced by a clip that was obviously from an interview of the filmmaker. Erica Lynch was sitting in a chair in front of a poster case holding a poster of Deathstrike V. She was clearly responding to a question from the interviewer. "Curses are everywhere. Movies, sports, even families. If you believed in curses every time someone insisted there was one, no one would ever do anything! On sets, I've had people say the location is cursed, or the movie itself. I'd wouldn't be half as famous as I am today if I ever paid any attention to that nonsense. What's happened with my movies are tragic, but you can find a pattern in anything if you look closely enough. Some of those deaths, they were pretty obvious in coming. And some were accidents. The fact that those people were filming in one of my movies is just a coincidence. After Graveyard of Horror was done and out in theaters, one of the extras, Katie Maxwell, died in a plane crash. Am I responsible for accidents now? I'll always be grateful to those who starred in my movies, and I always send my condolences to the families, but I can't give up my dreams to appease a little curse which may or may not exist. Is that what people want?"

The newscaster came back. "It's pretty obvious to anyone that that's not what people want. Sales of Erica Lynch's movies have always been immense, but each new death only drives them up more and more, proving once and for all, a little tragedy provides a dark glamour of the morbid that some people can't resist. Turning now to sports-"

Yugi turned off the television. He sat in thought on the couch for a moment. He hoped he knew what he was getting into, agreeing to do this with Joey.

"Tristan's totally jealous," Joey announced as he came into the living room. He flopped down on the couch with a contented sigh, putting his arm around Yugi's shoulders. "He didn't believe me at first. I heard the news in the kitchen, so I told him to turn it on. He asked me to ask Erica if he can come watch the filming. I'll ask her on Wednesday."

Wednesday was the day he and Yugi were supposed to go back to Erica Lynch's hotel and officially sign to star in the movie. Erica had asked them to wait that long in the hopes that, in the intervening four days, she'd be able to find the rest of her main cast, though she was set to stay two weeks if need be.

After the initial announcement that Yugi and Joey were her next two stars, Erica had ended the promotion and taken Yugi and Joey into the hotel's meeting room, the same one in which she would conduct her 'auditions' later in the week, to discuss the details, introducing her producer, a man named Kevin Landau. He looked like a hard drinker, but he was as friendly and effervescent as Erica herself.

Yugi, who had still been dazed by the sudden change in events, had pointed out as they were sitting down that he and Joey were famous, and therefore not what she usually chose.

"Famous?" Erica had said. "Oh, right! The Duel Monsters craze. I *thought* you two looked familiar." Her brow wrinkled, then she waved her hand dismissively. "This time, I don't care. It's a brand-new project, and I have to have you two."

"And having some famous faces might be a new twist the fans will enjoy," Kevin had said. "We've never done it before, after all. Might draw the Duel Monsters crowd, too."

Yugi, who had thought pointing out that they were famous would be a snag, had looked to Joey, who had still been grinning broadly. He knew he would get no help there. Joey was too excited by this, blown away, and not in the same way Yugi was.

"Right!" Erica had said. "So, here's how it goes, you two. Be back here on Wednesday, at 3. We'll go over all the contract business, the planned hours and such, the locations, your pay, etc, the whole nine yards. We'll get you the first parts of your scripts, too. This is the way it works. I only give out the first third of my scripts to my actors. It's my belief you'll be much more genuine if you don't know what's going to happen to your character beforehand. As such, I film more linearly than most people do. In the movie business, scenes are often filmed out of sequence, to cut down spending on renting locations, on commutes, etc. It's often also to help keep weather and city events from interfering in outdoors scenes. But I like to keep my actors guessing on what happens next. If you know your character bites it in Act II, isn't that going to affect your performance in Act I? My first movie, I did it the traditional way, and one of my girls threw a real bitch fit that her character was the first death to give the audience a fear rush. Quit on the spot. Threw me off a whole four days while I tried to find a replacement. Since then, I do it my way."

"Now there's a line you'll hear a lot," Kevin had said with a mix of sarcasm and affection. "Everything is done Erica's way. Better take that to heart right now."

"Damn straight. Any questions?"

'Is it too late to back out now?' Yugi had thought bleakly. Out loud, he asked, "What's the movie about?"

"Uh-uh," Erica had said, wagging her finger. "Wednesday, you'll know all about it. So, is 3 o'clock good for you two?"

"Yep!" Joey had said cheerfully. "This is awesome, Ms. Lynch-"

"Uh-uh," Erica had interrupted again. "Call me Erica."

"Erica. Thanks a lot for this!"

"No, thank *you*. I'm really expecting a whole new experience working with you. Don't disappoint me!"

"We won't!" Joey had agreed.

They had looked to Yugi, who had smiled weakly. "We won't," he had said reluctantly.

Now they were home again, and it looked like he was stuck for it. Joey was so excited, so happy, that Yugi couldn't bring himself to disappoint him. He had swallowed his fear of being in the spotlight for Duel Monsters. He could probably do it for the movie, too. Besides, Erica might see him in front of the camera and change her mind. He was not an actor, and neither was Joey.

"Are you sure this is going to go all right?" Yugi asked Joey. "She really only hires amateurs?"

"Yep! Told ya she was famous for it."

"But-"

"I told ya, I guess she trains people, or something. You've seen the movies… well, parts of 'em., and no one's really that bad, are they?"

Yugi shook his head. The actors weren't George Clooney, but they weren't horrible. Not the sort of robotic, unnatural-sounding actors typically found in cheesy horror fare. It was hard to believe that off-the-street grabs by Erica could produce movies that raked in millions, but it was true.

"The news piece mentioned that Erica Lynch doesn't buy into the curse on her movies," Yugi said. "I would have thought she would have played it up."

Joey shrugged. "They're just accidents. Cursed movies? Come on."

"Yeah, but… you said it yourself, it's happened in a lot of her movies. The news made it sound like it had happened in more than those Deathstrike ones."

"Well… there have been a couple in other pictures. But it's just the Deathstrike ones that something's happened in each of them, so those are the ones that everybody knows about. Besides, Yug', I bet some of it's fake. Promotion stuff, ya know? 'We made a horror movie and someone died during it, come see it.' You know, the whole morbid curiosity thing. And people have died during other movies. Accidents with the stunts and equipment and stuff. But if it were really so dangerous, they won't let her do it. You're not afraid of getting hurt, are ya?" Joey had looked at him intently, and added earnestly, "Yug', if you want to back out, you can. I don't want you to do something you don't want to do."

Yugi stared up into the warm brown eyes and smiled. He didn't want to do it, but for Joey, he would.

"No, it's ok. Let's give it a shot."

Joey grinned. "I can't wait for Wednesday to get here! You'll see, Yug'. This'll be something we won't ever forget!"

tbc…

A/N: Sorry that's short. I had to cut it off on an ominous note. Sorry that there was no Halloween update! D: Working full time and school… yeah, you've had the excuses. You can have a horror story in Nov, can't you?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Yugi jerked awake as the phone rang. Groggy, he turned his head toward the side table, seeing the glowing green numbers on his alarm clock. It was 3:28 am Monday morning.

The phone rang again. Yugi sat up, suddenly worried. Joey had gone to visit his sister yesterday afternoon, staying the night as planned. Was the phone call about one of them?

Yugi grabbed the receiver, bringing it to his ear. "Hello?"

Silence.

"Hello?"

More silence, then the soft, unmistakable sound of breathing. Yugi gripped the phone receiver tightly in his hand. The breathing continued, the caller clearly listening to him.

"Who is this?"

The laughter started. Yugi shivered, then slammed down the receiver. He switched on the bedside lamp and sat up. He stared at the phone, unsurprised when it rang again. He refused to pick it up, but it rang and rang. He counted fifteen before he broke and picked it up again.

"Hello? Who is this?"

Breathing, and then the cold, menacing laughter. Yugi pushed the hang up button again, but the phone rang in his hand. He gritted his teeth, but it continued to ring. Finally he answered it. When the breathing started again, he tried to channel Joey.

"Listen, stop calling me! This joke has gone on long enough, and you don't stop, I'll-" He hesitated, and though he knew that meant he had lost his credibility, he just wasn't sure what to say. Threatening people didn't come naturally to him. "I'll call the police," he finished lamely.

The person on the other end of the phone laughed at him, but this time it seemed to be much more taunting than it had previously. Yugi's threat was weak, and the laugher knew it. Yugi hung up again.

The phone stayed silent. Relieved, Yugi looked toward the bedroom window. The blinds and curtains were drawn, but he wondered how far away the caller was. Was it really a random thing, or had he been targeted? Was it because of the Erica Lynch movie?

No, this had started before that. The first call had come almost a week ago, when Joey had first told him about Erica Lynch coming to Domino. She and her group hadn't arrived until the following Saturday, so the caller couldn't have known Yugi was going to be in the movie.

Yugi looked at the phone again. It remained silent. He wanted to pick it up and call Joey, ask him if he'd received a call over at Serenity's apartment, but he didn't. If he had, Joey would already have called him. If he hadn't, he would probably blow a fuse and come racing home, and while Yugi would appreciate that, he wanted Joey to stay with Serenity, not least of which because it was three in the morning and he didn't want him racing through Domino at that hour. He could have contacted Yami as well, but he didn't for the same reason he didn't with Joey. Yami was on his anniversary with Kaiba, and he would be home that day. Yugi didn't want to freak out over a silly prank.

The silence continued for another fifteen minutes. Yugi turned off the lamp and lay back down. He stared at the ceiling through the darkness, wondering what he should do about the mysterious caller. The first time had *seemed* like a prank after the fact, like Joey said, but twice now? He could try a return-call, to find the number, but what then? Call back? Give it to the police? There wouldn't be much they could do, even if they thought it was more than a prank.

Yugi sighed and turned onto his side, burrowing under the covers.

The phone jerked him awake again at 4:19. Yugi jerked upright, then grabbed the phone off the cradle, nearly sending it crashing to the floor off the side table.

"Hello?"

The breathing again. Yugi tried threatening again, forcing himself to use some of Joey's more favorite phrases.

"Listen, asshole, stop calling me in the middle of the fucking night! I know you have nothing better to do with your life, but stop or else!"

He slammed the receiver down. Trembling with adrenaline, his heart racing, he waited. The phone remained silent, which was not how it had gone the previous two times. Had his uncharacteristic language somehow convinced the caller to give up?

Yugi picked up the phone, then dialed star-six-nine. The mechanical operator told him the number was blocked. Unsurprised, Yugi hung up. He stared at the phone again, but it now refused to ring.

Yugi glanced at the clock. 4:33.

He decided to try and get some more sleep. He lay down, trying to calm his thoughts. The mysterious caller was just some bored teenager playing a prank. He'd gotten quite the rise out of Joey on Wednesday and so had tried to get his kicks again. And since Yugi had done the stupid thing and cursed at him as well, the brat probably would call back again, maybe that night, maybe another night. Yugi would just have to ignore it. And make sure Joey ignored it, too.

...

Yugi sighed blearily as he climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower. After being awakened twice during the night by the prank caller, he was not as well rested as he should be.

Downstairs, wrapped up in his bathrobe, he started some breakfast. He was scrambling some eggs when the kitchen door opened and Joey came in. He set his overnight bag down on the floor and grinned at Yugi.

"Hi, Spiky!" he said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Joey. Want some breakfast?"

Joey looked at Yugi's bathrobe and smiled. He stepped closer and pulled Yugi away from the stove, wrapping his arms around his waist. "Mm, sure. How about some eggs, browns, and a side of you?"

Yugi laughed as Joey kissed him on the mouth, walking him backward. Joey picked him up and laid him down on the kitchen table, kissing him deeper. Yugi wrapped his arms around his neck, still holding the spatula in his hand. His robe parted a bit across his chest and Joey purred in appreciation, moving down and nipping at Yugi's left pec, leaving a hickey. Yugi squirmed at the bite, eyes closed, tangling his free hand in Joey's thick blond hair.

"You smell good, Yug'," Joey murmured against his skin, mouth just above his belly button.

Yugi smiled, eyes still closed. But soon another odor, not pleasant, stung his nose. He gasped, sitting up. "Joey, the eggs are burning!"

Joey straightened, letting Yugi hop off the table. Sure enough, smoke was beginning to pour out of skillet, the eggs they had both forgotten blackening. Yugi grabbed the skillet off the electric coil, coughing. He looked ruefully at the ruined food, then went to the trash can, scraping the useless eggs into the trash. Joey opened the kitchen door into the backyard, then leaned across the sink to open the window.

"Sorry," he said, turning around as Yugi walked over to the sink.

Yugi rinsed the skillet out, then set it back on the coil, shrugging. He pulled the mixing bowl back to himself and began cracking more eggs into it. It seemed they kept getting interrupted lately. "It's okay. How was your visit with Serenity?"

"Good," Joey said, grabbing his overnight bag and heading back into the bedroom. "She's starting freshman year in January!" he called. "Can you believe it?"

"Why didn't she start in September?" Yugi called back. He turned the hash browns frying in the second skillet, then added milk to the raw eggs and began to whisk them together.

"Couldn't decide what she wanted to take," Joey said, coming back into the kitchen. "She decided on photography."

"I think she'll do good in that." Yugi poured the mix into the skillet.

Joey reached into the fridge, pulling out a jug of orange juice. He got down two glasses and poured juice into both before returning the jug to the fridge. He raised his glass and took a sip.

"But I can't believe my baby sister is a freshman at Domino College of the Arts," Joey muttered.

"She's nineteen, Joey," Yugi said with a smile. "And you're twenty-three. You'll have to accept the fact she's an adult sometime."

Joey grinned, reaching into another cabinet and pulling out a couple of plates. "She'll always be my baby sister."

Yugi looked up at him with another smile. "Does she have a boyfriend yet?"

Joey's smile disappeared. "No."

Yugi turned back to the skillet, beginning to flip sections of the scrambled eggs. He shook his head in resignation. "She will sometime."

"Only if I'm okay with it," Joey muttered darkly. "Why can't she like Tristan already?"

"You always hated it when Tristan liked her!" Yugi flipped the browns in the second skillet again.

"Yeah, but, she was a freshman in *high school* then. Besides, T's my friend. I know him. I don't know these guys at the college. I'm just looking out for my sister."

"I know."

Yugi raised the skillet, sliding some of the eggs onto each of the plates. He set the skillet back on the coil, then pulled off strips of bacon from the rasher sitting on the counter and laid out six strips. They began to crisp immediately while he turned off the second coil and picked up the second skillet, divvying up the browns onto both plates. He set the skillet back on the stove, then flipped the strips of bacon. Joey moved the glasses of orange juice to the table, then added silverware and napkins. Yugi turned off the stove, then added the strips of bacon to the plates. He transferred the plates to the table and he and Joey sat down to breakfast.

"Yami's home today, ain't he?" Joey asked. "Weren't we going over there?"

"Two. Their plane gets in at noon."

Joey glanced at the clock. It was a few minutes before ten. He was up early for him, but Yugi knew that Serenity had a job at women's clothing store she would have had to be at that morning.

"Ugh, what am I going to do for four hours?" he moaned, wolfing his breakfast with his usual abandon.

"I'm going over to my mom's after breakfast," Yugi said. "I haven't seen her in a few days."

His grandfather had died two years ago in March, and his father had returned to his usual work hours not long after, leaving his mother home alone for most of the week. Yugi knew it had been hard on her to get used to a completely empty house, now that Yugi had moved out with Joey over a year ago.

"You can take a nap if you want," Yugi added. "I'll probably be over there for a few hours."

Joey nodded. He wouldn't accompany Yugi over to his mother's; Yugi used that time to visit his mother one-on-one, helping her out with any chores she had, and just catching up. Joey would normally be at work, but he had Mondays off.

"Okay, I guess I'll just take a nap," Joey agreed. "Serenity and I stayed up until three or four talking." He covered his mouth as he yawned as if proving point. "I don't know how she got up to take a shower and get to work on time. And Mondays are her long days; she aint' off 'til nine."

Yugi winced. He finished his breakfast and pushed his plate aside. "Well, she always was a morning person."

Joey made a face. "Yeah, you too."

Yugi laughed. He often had breakfast alone or late, as Joey was rarely up before eleven. He worked second shift at a warehouse, working ten hours a day for four days a week, from three in the afternoon until one in the morning, having Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays off. The job suited him, and he made pretty good money.

The pair of them chatted for a bit as they finished their orange juice, then Yugi left the dishes to Joey and got dressed, heading out to see his mother. Mrs. Moto was still a housewife, and she spent a lot of time baking. As such, the house smelled of pumpkin bread, gingerbread, and vanilla when Yugi came in. He greeted his mother got to work finishing painting the living room that he'd left off a few days ago. He added a second coat to the walls, then sat with his mother at the dining room table with some of her fresh pumpkin bread and some coffee, catching up.

/Aibou?/

Yugi smiled around the rim of his coffee mug. /Hi, Yami./

/Am I interrupting?/

/No. Your plane get down okay?/

/Yes. Seto and I are in the limo, heading home. Are you still coming over this afternoon?/

/Yeah, if that's okay./

/Of course. I'll see you later./

Yugi stayed with his mother until one thirty, then headed home and picked up Joey, who was ready to go when he pulled up, a rarity. They headed across the city towards the Kaiba Manor. They pulled up a couple minutes early and the butler let them in, showing them to the main sitting room, where Yami and Kaiba were. Yami stood up from the couch, in front of which was the coffee table laden with cookies and tea.

"Hi, Yami. Hi, Kaiba," Yugi greeted, hugging his dark half.

"Hello, Aibou, Joey," Yami returned, hugging Yugi back.

"Hey, Yami." Joey hugged him, then grinned broadly. "Guess what? Yug' and I are gonna be in a movie!"

Yami looked surprised. Kaiba, who had been standing silently across the room, turning around to stare at them. "A movie?" Yami asked.

"Yeah! An Erica Lynch movie."

"Erica Lynch?"

"It's those stupid torture porn movies Wheeler likes," Kaiba said scathingly.

"They ain't torture porn," Joey said angrily. "You're mixing 'em up with those stupid cut-'em-up flicks. This is different, they got good stories and they're really cool."

Kaiba snorted derisively, starting to leave the room. Joey glared at him as he disappeared through the doorway. "Hey, you ought to audition, Kaiba!" he snapped. "I'd sure like to see someone off you!"

"Joey, that's a horrible thing to say!" Yugi admonished.

"Yeah, well, I don't really mean it," Joey grumbled. Then, looking at Yami, he apologetically, if grudgingly, added, "So, you have fun?"

Yami settled with Yugi on the couch while Joey perched on the armrest of the recliner. "Yes, we did."

"You got a tan," Yugi said, looking down at Yami's beautiful bronze skin. He held his arm against Yami's, where the difference between his Japanese paleness compared to Yami's Egyptian duskiness was obvious. Yami had lightened a few shades living a few years in northern Japan, but two weeks in the hot Caribbean sun had returned him to his natural copper color. He once again looked like he'd just stepped out of an ancient temple, albeit in jeans and a red tank top.

"Yeah, it's sexy," Joey said with a shameless grin. "So, what about Kaiba's tail?"

Yami gave him a look. Joey laughed, snatching a cookie off the plate.

"Tell me more about this movie," Yami requested.

Yugi and Joey filled him in on all that had happened the previous Saturday. "And we sign the contract on Wednesday," Joey finished.

/Aibou, do you want to do this?/ Yami asked him silently.

/No. But I'll do it for Joey./

/It is unusual she chooses strangers she meets,/ Yami said musingly, sipping his tea. /Isn't that a risk of her budget?/

/Yeah, but Joey says she does it all the time, and she must be doing something right, because her movies are always popular./

/Joey will forgive you if you wish not to do it,/ Yami said.

/I know, but it's important to him./ Yugi sighed inwardly. He could tell Yami his real feelings. /Who knows, it might not last long anyway. She'll probably want to fire me the minute I open my mouth. I'm no good in front of a camera./

Yami looked at him squarely. Yugi smiled. Joey was sitting silently across from them, no doubt aware they were talking in their minds. He had long ago gotten used to it, and rarely interrupted. Now he looked between the two.

"Whatcha think?" he asked Yami.

"It is… unexpected," he said. "But if it is something you wish to do, it sounds like it might be fun for you."

Joey laughed, taking another big bite of a cookie. "It's gonna be a blast! And, Yug', you're gonna be great. You're a natural at everything you do. You watch. You'll be a natural at this horror stuff. Everyone's going to remember the year Yugi Moto made an Erica Lynch horror movie!"

tbc...

a/n: Ouch, not many reviews. My fault; you guys are used to me only updating once a month, aren't you? Enjoy the story!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

Yugi sighed as he finished rearranging the shop stock. After his grandfather's death, the Kame Game Shop had fallen to him, as his father had his own career. His mother helped out by accepting deliveries made after hours, keeping the shop clean, and taking the deposits to the bank, but the actual business was now in Yugi's hands. He was only grateful Grandpa had shown him all the ropes before his passing. He had had a tenuous relationship with his son, but the bond with his grandson had been as strong as steel, and he had taught Yugi everything he knew about the business. The Kame Game Shop was still doing well, even two years after his death, and remained one of the favorites of downtown Domino.

"Yugi, are you almost finished?" his mother asked, coming into the shop from the door that led to the Moto family apartment. "It's almost eleven, dear."

His mother worried about him going home after dark, though Yugi was an adult. She would always be a worrier. Yugi was her only child and she was alone most of the time now that Grandpa had passed.

Yugi got to his feet and smiled at his mother. Even now, well into her forties and with her hair beginning to turn gray, she retained the same youthful looks she had always had, making her seem ten years too young to have a twenty-one-year old son.

"I'm done, Mom. I'll be ready to go in a couple of minutes." Yugi had not told his mother about the Erica Lynch film yet. He still had a hard time grasping its reality, even though he and Joey were supposed to sign their contracts tomorrow afternoon. He would tell her after that. "I'll see you on Thursday, ok?"

His mother smiled and walked with him to the shop's front door, waiting while he pulled on his leather jacket. The weather had begun to turn cold, and it was only a matter of time before the snow began to fall.

"Good night, sweetheart. Drive safely."

Yugi locked the shop door while Mrs. Moto stood watching by the window, and walked down to his car at the curb. He waved to her before getting into the driver's side and starting the car. He drove home, wondering what he would do with his time until Joey got home after one. A shower and then lounging with a book sounded good about then.

At home, he unlocked the front door and turned on the sideboard table lamp, hanging his keys on the hook and shutting and locking the door behind him. The dim light of the small entrance lamp revealed the cozy living room and he shrugged off his jacket and hung it up in the front closet before crossing the room to the stairs heading up to the second floor. As he passed the couch's side table, he glanced at the phone. The message machine's light was not blinking and neither was the new call light.

Yugi headed upstairs and through the master bedroom into the bathroom. He undressed and threw his clothes into the hamper before stepping into the shower. The hot water sluiced down his body, fully removing the chill of the late autumn night.

Yugi took his time with his shower, enjoying the hot water, before finally turning it off and stepping out into the bathroom. He grabbed his towel and dried off, then padded naked into the bedroom, the cool air raising goosebumps along his skin despite the heater warming the house after it having been shut all day after Joey had gone to work.

A glance at the clock told him it was still twenty until midnight, meaning Joey wouldn't be home for a good hour and a half. Yugi pulled on a pair of pajamas and his house slippers and robe and trotted downstairs to get a snack to eat while he read his book. In the kitchen, he flipped on the light and went to the refrigerator, pulling out some cheese and lunchmeat to make cracker sandwiches. He set the items on the counter and opened the dry foods cabinet next to the sink to grab the crackers.

A flash of movement drew his eye. He paused, still standing on his toes to reach the crackers, and looked out of the kitchen window, which looked out into the apartment complex's communal backyard. Beyond the waist-high fence that surrounded the back patio, the yard was claimed by darkness. He saw nothing out there, but the apartment complex was no stranger to feral cats and possums.

Yugi went back to his task, pulling the crackers out of the cabinet, then setting the cutting board on the counter. He pulled out the cheese slicer and set to work, when movement drew his eye again. Pausing, nervousness beginning to take over, he leaned closer to the window, straining to see beyond the scope of the light from the kitchen shining outside. Nothing.

Yugi leaned to the side and flipped on the porch light. The porch and the backyard beyond were illuminated, showing the large oak tree in back that the kids of the apartment complex played under, a tire swing hanging from one sturdy limb. He stared out at the yard for several minutes, but he still saw nothing. Off went the light and Yugi went back to making his cracker sandwiches. When he had enough on his plate, he returned the cheese and lunchmeat to the refrigerator.

Turning back around, he let out a startled yelp.

Eyes were staring in through the window.

Yugi let out a breath when he realized a cat was perched on the sill, peering in. Heart hammering, he laughed shakily, watching the cat as it shifted on its perch. It meowed-he could see its mouth move, though he couldn't hear the sound with the window closed. It pawed the screen and meowed at him again.

Yugi returned to the refrigerator and got the package of deli ham again. He went to the back door and unlatched it, pulling it open and flipping on the porch light again as he stepped out onto the porch. The cat remained on the sill, watching him warily. Yugi smiled at it and sat down on the threshold step, opening the package. He pulled out a slice and began tearing it into pieces, tossing a piece onto the ground under the sill. The cat stared down at it, looked at him, then jumped to the ground and snuck to the piece of meat, wolfing it. Yugi tossed another piece, a little closer to himself. The cat moved closer and wolfed it, too. It was an adult, brown and white, with bright yellow eyes. There was no collar and it was thin, meaning it was surely one of the local feral cats.

Yugi tossed more ham to the cat, knowing that he was probably setting himself up for having it come back, begging for food. He didn't care. He couldn't leave it out here going hungry.

When he was done throwing it ham, he stood up and went back inside. He grabbed a plastic bowl from the cabinet and filled it with water, setting it on the corner of the porch for the cat to drink from, then closed the door and returned the rest of the ham to the refrigerator and the crackers to the cabinet. He felt silly being so scared by a cat on the sill.

He took the plate of cracker sandwiches and a glass of raspberry tea up to the bedroom, setting both on the side table and climbing into bed. It was a quarter after midnight.

Yugi was engrossed in his book, more than half done with his crackers sandwiches, when noise in the hall drew his attention. He glanced at the clock, seeing at it was only one. Joey would only have been getting off work at this time; he had a half hour commute home.

"Joey? Is that you?"

Nothing but another soft rustle. It would have been impossible to hear if the house hadn't been so quiet. Yugi set his book down, looking at the empty doorway.

"Joey?"

Yugi crept out of bed, hesitating by the edge. Another soft rustle came from the hallway. Heart beginning to hammer again, Yugi edged toward the doorway, calling for Joey again.

"Joey, if that's you, and you're playing another joke on me, I'm leaving you."

Nothing met this untrue declaration. Yugi reached to the dresser and grabbed the reproduction of an Isis statue Yami had given him for his birthday a couple years ago. He would hate to destroy it, but it felt good to have a weapon in his hand. He went to the doorway, holding the Isis statue tightly, and stepped into the hall.

The cat hissed at him. Yugi stared down at it, shocked. "How'd you get in?"

The cat ran back down the hall and down the stairs. Yugi followed after it, back into the kitchen, where it ran through the opening of the ajar kitchen door outside. Yugi set the Isis statue on the counter and went to the door. He must not have closed it properly and the cat had pawed at it until it opened enough for it to get in. He shut it and locked it, starting to get annoyed. Why was he so jumpy lately?

It was the prank calls, of course.

Yugi sighed and grabbed the Isis statue, heading upstairs. He returned it to the dresser, then climbed back into the bed, but he didn't much feel like reading anymore.

Joey got home at the predicted time. Yugi felt better when he heard Joey calling him from downstairs and he got up, heading down to greet him.

"Hi, Spiky," Joey said happily, wrapping an arm around his waist and planting a kiss on his mouth. "How was your day?"

"Fine. I got all the stock inventoried and sorted, finally."

"Ugh. Well, work was fine. Except Brandon didn't show up again. I bet he's fired."

"It would serve him right."

Joey followed Yugi upstairs to their room. He walked into the bathroom for a quick shower to wash off the day's grime, then joined Yugi in bed, dressed in his own pajamas. He finished off the cracker sandwiches Yugi hadn't eaten, laughing when Yugi told him about the cat coming into the apartment.

"Yami sure would approve of you feeding it," he remarked.

Yami, no surprise, loved cats. But Kaiba was allergic and probably wouldn't have wanted one in the house even if he wasn't. Joey always promised Yami he'd get him a dozen kittens every birthday and Christmas within earshot of Kaiba, just to annoy him. Kaiba always retaliated that dogs were supposed to hate cats, which in turn started another shouting match.

"One of these days, I'm going to just get every cat and kitten from the shelter and sneak them into Kaiba's office, their bedroom, his sock drawer…"

Yugi giggled.

"I can't wait for tomorrow," Joey went on happily. Then he looked at Yugi sideways. "You know… Yug', if you want to change your mind, I'm not gonna be mad."

"I know, but this is important to you."

"Yeah, but… Hell, I've been kind of stupid about it. Not asking you at all. You don't have to do it."

Yugi smiled and kissed him. "I want to, 'cause you want to. Isn't that what couples are supposed to do?"

Joey grinned. "That's way mushy." Yugi punched his shoulder. Joey winced, rubbing the spot. "Okay, that's more masculine."

"Jerk."

"You knew that when you moved in with me. So, you're really okay with this? You're really going to do it?"

"Yeah."

Joey grinned again and kissed him. "Thanks, Yug'. I'd say you can choose something I don't want to do and I'll do it with you, but there's never anything you want to do that I don't want to do with you."

"Now who's being mushy?"

Joey laughed, kissed him again, then leaned over him to turn out the light. They curled up to sleep.

Yugi jerked awake. He raised his head, listening. What had woken him?

Downstairs, he heard a rustling. He froze, trying to quiet his breathing, sure that he had imagined it. But, no, another rustling followed the first, louder. A wooden groan reached his ears; it sounded like a drawer being opened. Yugi sat up with a gasp.

"Joey!" he hissed softly, reaching to shake his boyfriend. "Wake up!"

Joey mumbled and shifted. Yugi shook him again. Downstairs, another drawer opened. Yugi stared through the dark to the bedroom door, which was closed. He shook Joey harder.

"Joey! Wake up!"

"Wha, Yug'?" Joey muttered, half awake. "'m sleepy, pal."

"Joey, someone's in the apartment!"

"What?"

Downstairs, a tremendous crash shook through the floor. Joey shouted a startled curse. Yugi snapped on the light as another crash sounded. Joey scrambled out of bed, running to the bathroom. He came out holding the hammer that had been languishing in the linen closet ever since Yugi had hung the wall clock in months ago. Yugi climbed out of bed and grabbed the Isis statue again.

"Stay here," Joey said, coming around the bed and going to the door.

"No."

Joey glared at him, but Yugi was not going to stay cowering upstairs in the bedroom. He hurried after Joey as the blond threw open the bedroom and exited into the hall, moving fast but cautiously, the hammer held tight in his right hand. Yugi crept after him, heart pounding. There was no more noise downstairs.

"Who's there?" Joey shouted, flipping the light switch at the head of the stairs. It turned on the ceiling fixture in the living room, illuminating it, the stairs, and the front door. The front door was open, cold night air pouring into the apartment. The crashes had been the drawers of the sideboard by the door being pulled from their runners and thrown on the floor. One of the lamps on the side tables on either side of the couch was on the floor, but as it was made of metal, it hadn't broken, though the shade was askew. The closet door was open, their coats, umbrellas, and winter snowshoes scattered across the carpet.

There was no one to be seen. Joey thudded down the stairs, still holding the hammer, Yugi on his heels. Joey flicked another light switch, throwing on the hall light. The doors leading off were the downstairs bathroom, the kitchen, and a storage closet. The closet door was closed and the bathroom and kitchen doors open, as usual. Joey went to the closet and threw open the door, but nothing was inside but the vacuum, holiday decorations, and odds and ends. Joey edged to the bathroom, but there was no one inside there, either. Nor in the kitchen, off which was only a pantry closet that was too small to hold anyone and the washer/dryer nook.

The light turning on revealed that the back door was open as well. Joey snarled several curses and went to the door, peering out into the night. Yugi watched worriedly, looking over his shoulder several times, but whoever had been in the apartment was gone. Joey slammed the door and locked it.

"Fuck! Did they take anything?"

"I don't know."

It wasn't as if either he or Joey had jewelry. They had no valuables either, and the only things of any worth to them were a few photos, some entertainment equipment, the knick knack Yugi was still holding, and the contents of their wallets, which were upstairs.

"Fuck," Joey snarled again. He strode back out into the living room and slammed and locked the front door. "How'd they get in?"

"Did they pick the lock?"

"I don't see how. Both of the deadbolts were locked, I know it."

"None of the windows are broken."

Yugi set the Isis statue on one of the side tables and picked up the lamp. The bulb was in one piece, but the filament inside had broken when the lamp had hit the floor. Yugi unscrewed it, went to the bathroom, and threw it in the trash. He went to the still-open utility closet and got another bulb. Out in the living room, he screwed it into the lamp while Joey prowled around, checking the doors and windows. The TV and VCR remained where they were, so they hadn't been stolen. Yugi picked up the drawers and replaced them, beginning to put away the birthday and Christmas cards, bill statements, bank statements, newspaper clippings, and postcards that had accumulated. On top of the sideboard, the photos remained where they were. Only one had been knocked over and the glass hadn't been broken.

"It doesn't look like anything is missing."

Joey was still fuming. Still holding the hammer, he stalked upstairs with Yugi behind him. Yugi returned the Isis statue to its usual place while Joey threw the hammer into the linen closet, where it made a thunk on the shelf. Yugi sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Joey paced their room like an angry wolf in a cage.

"If I ever find out who did that, I'll kill them," he raged.

The phone rang, making Yugi jump. He turned around and reached for it, dread already flowing through him.

Sure enough, it was the prank caller. The sinister breathing came over the line even though Yugi hadn't said hello. The caller knew he was there. And Yugi was sure, now, that it was not a prank.

Joey lunged onto the bed and ripped the phone out of Yugi's hand. Rolling onto his back and sitting up, he shouted at the top of his lungs several inventive ways the caller on the phone could reach new heights in self-fulfillment. Only when he was done, breathing hard with anger and shaking, did the caller hang up. Joey threw the phone into the wall. It left a dent in the plaster. On his feet even before the phone had hit the carpet, Joey paced the room, shouting curses like a madman. Yugi sat silently and watched him, afraid to interrupt. He had never seen Joey so mad.

The phone, apparently unbroken by the double impact, rang. Joey rounded on it and picked it up. He pressed the talk button, listened for a second, then railed more curses over the line. Apparently interrupted by the caller hanging up, Joey tossed the phone on the bed this time.

"Joey, please, calm down," Yugi said. "Please."

"Yug', this is too much. That bastard! First he calls here like a kid pranking an old lady, then he breaks into our apartment? And he calls again to gloat? Fuck! If I ever find him, I'll kill him!"

"It isn't some kid playing a prank."

"I fucking know that, Yug'."

"We should call the cops."

"Somebody already did."

Yugi heard the sirens, too. Joey's three a.m. obscenity tirade had no doubt reached at least one of their neighbors, and that person had called the cops. Yugi picked up the phone and replaced it, then got to his feet and grabbed his bathrobe. Joey grabbed his own, yanking it on and having trouble with the sash. As he muttered still more curses, Yugi went to him and began tying it himself.

"Calm down," he said. "I've never seen you like this!"

Joey looked down at him and his anger melted some what. "I'm sorry, Yug'. But someone broke into our home!"

"Yeah, but screaming the F-word at the cops at three in the morning isn't going to do you any favors."

Joey managed a faint, embarrassed smile. He took a deep breath and let it out. As the sirens shut off as the cops pulled up to the apartment, the pair of them went downstairs. Yugi glanced at the phone in the living room as he crossed to the front door to let the police in.

If this wasn't an innocent prank, what was it?

tbc…

A/N: Is this story not doing too well? Please review…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

Yugi sighed as he shut the door on the last police officer. Joey sat on the couch, brown eyes still bright with anger. The pair of them had just spent the last two hours talking with the cop about the break-in and the phone calls. After initially dressing Joey down for shouting at three in the morning, which had not helped his anger any, the cops had become interested when Yugi explained the break-in and the phone calls before it. They had taken down what little information was to be had, gave Joey a verbal warning for disturbing the peace, then left.

When Yugi had mentioned the calls on Monday, he had seen Joey glance at him, but he hadn't said anything. Now, as Yugi shut the door on the cops and the curious neighbor hanging out of her doorway next door, Joey glared at him from the couch.

"You didn't mention any calls to me, Yug'," he said.

Yugi moved to sit down next to him, his eyes burning from exhaustion. "I didn't want to mention it," he said tiredly. "I thought maybe the guy had just called back because he got such a reaction out of you the first the and he just wanted to have some more fun."

Joey frowned and put his arm around Yugi's shoulders. "So, what do you think this is? Just some random break-in?"

The cops certainly thought so. Whether they thought the phone calls and the break-in were related they hadn't said, but Yugi believed so. Itw as too much of a coincidence otherwise. But the break-in didn't seem like the usual burglary. Nothing had been taken, and the intruder had gotten into the apartment without noise, so why would they have proceeded to smash things up downstairs? It seemed like something else, but what? Whatever it was, it seemed more sinister than either a prank or a robbery.

Yugi shivered. Joey noticed and squeezed him lightly.

"Hey," he said gently. "Don't worry, Yug'. Nothing's gonna happen to us."

"This doesn't seem like the typical house invasion," Yugi said. "They could have just stolen stuff and walked out and we would never have noticed until we woke up."

"Maybe they didn't know we were here."

"I'm sure they did. I know they did. This wasn't about robbing us."

"But they didn't hurt us," Joey said soothingly. "They didn't even come upstairs and they ran when I shouted."

Yugi shook his head, giving up on trying to put feelings that weren't all that defined into words. He just knew his heart that something worse was happening. What that was, or whether it would actually happen now, he didn't know, but he knew to trust his instincts in matters like this. It wasn't the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last, that he'd had feelings that had turned out to be meaningful, indicative of things to come.

"Let's go on back to bed," Joey murmured. "There's nothing else we can do."

Yugi nodded and went upstairs with him. They curled up under the covers, Yugi cuddling with Joey and tucking his head in under his chin, closing his eyes. Despite his concerns, he was so exhausted that he went right to sleep.

Yugi sat up in the bed and yawned, stretching. His eyes still felt grainy and his head ached. A glance at the clock told him it was ten-he had slept less than five hours. Joey was still snoring beside him. He would probably sleep until Yugi woke him.

They were due to sign the contracts at three. With five hours to go, Yugi decided to make breakfast and read the newspaper. He set the coffee pot on and got out eggs, mushrooms, butter, and cheese, then went to go get the newspaper. It was at the end of the walk and by the time he returned with it, the scent of coffee was already starting to emanate from the percolator. He closed the front door, shaking the newspaper out of the bag. Back in the kitchen, he tossed the paper on the table and the bag in the trash, then proceeded to make a large mushroom-and-cheese omelet.

"Mornin', Yug'," Joey said sleepily, appearing in the doorway.

Ok, so, the smell of food would get him up. Yugi smiled, sliding the omelet onto a plate and moving it to the table. "Good morning, Joey."

"Man. I'm exhausted." Joey sat down and yawned loudly.

Yugi nodded, adding a pitcher of orange juice, plates, forks, and glasses. Joey sliced the omelet in half, serving the both of them. They tucked in.

"Mm. Good as always." Joey raised his fork in a mock toast. Yugi chuckled. "Okay, so, we meet Erica at three. Man, I hope this movie is as good as I think it's going to be. I'm so excited. I can't wait to find out what it's about."

"I'm curious, too. Maybe it won't be so gross being in it as watching it."

Joey laughed, but waved his fork threateningly. "Oh, we're going to be watching the finished movie, bud. Premiere opening, just like the red carpet folks."

Yugi groaned, then smiled good-naturedly. Joey grinned, spearing a mushroom and taking it off his fork. Then he glanced at the phone on the wall over the counter, his expression turning dark. Yugi looked over his shoulder, then back at the blonde.

"What?"

"Just wondering who that bastard was."

"Don't. It's not worth getting upset about again."

"Yug', they messed with us. And the cops aren't going to do anything, you know that. They're just going to take our report, file it away, and wait for them to do it again, then take another report, and do nothing again. At best, they'll do a token patrol of the neighborhood."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

Joey sighed and shrugged, taking another big bite of the omelet. "I don't know. Not much we can do, I guess. But I wish I could get my hands on the bastard calling you in the middle of the night and scaring you."

Yugi flushed, embarrassed by that description. Maybe it was accurate, but it made him feel like a coward. "Don't worry about it. If they call again, we'll just ignore them. They'll get bored eventually."

"If they were some asshole teenager, that'd probably work, but they broke in." Joey scowled, taking a big gulp of orange juice. "And if they do it again, I'm not going to call down the stairs. I'm gonna sneak down there and whack their skull in with that hammer."

Yugi looked at Joey worriedly. This was hardly the first time he'd heard Joey boast about beating on someone. "Joey, don't say that. They could be dangerous."

Joey only made a dismissive sound, gulping down the last big bite of his omelet. He took his plate, fork, and cup to the sink, then disappeared upstairs. Yugi sighed, took the rest of the dishes to the sink, and flipped open the paper he'd been intending to read, getting himself a second cup of coffee. He spent the rest of the morning reading and finishing the pot of coffee before leaving the kitchen. As he was passing the front hall on the way to the downstairs bathroom, he frowned at the key hook above side table beside the front door. It held Joey's keys, the extra house key, and the keys to the Kame Game Shop, but his personal set were missing. He walked over, peering around the lamp, the letter holder, in the drawer, and behind the side table.

"What are you doing, Yug'?"

"I can't find my keys," Yugi said, straightening up. "I thought I left them here on the hook when I got home last night."

Joey frowned, coming over and peering around the side table as well. "Are you sure? Maybe you left them upstairs on the dresser or the nightstand. Or the kitchen counter. Or the bathroom counter." A grin spread across Joey's face.

Yugi flushed again. He knew he had trouble keeping track of his keys and his wallet. He had a habit of throwing them wherever he was at the moment, rather than dropping them off at one place each time. For all his usual spasticness regarding anything else, Joey was meticulous about putting his things away where they belonged. At least, when it didn't involve dirty clothes. Those ended up everywhere.

"Just help me find them."

Joey grinned and dutifully trotted into the downstairs bathroom. Yugi went upstairs, using the upstairs bathroom as well as searching it for his keys. His wallet he found on the dresser in the bedroom where he'd placed it the night before, but his keys were not there, nor anywhere in the room. He sighed and checked the closets and the guest room, but the keys were nowhere to be found.

"Dunno what to tell you, Yug'," Joey said, coming upstairs. "Didn't find 'em in the kitchen, laundry room, or the living room. Where'd you put them this time, Spiky?"

Yugi sighed, tossing his pillow back onto the bed in irritation. "Who knows. Well, you'll have yours, won't you? They'll turn up."

Joey grinned teasingly. "I don't know. What set are you on, pal? Ninth?"

"Fourth," Yugi muttered.

Joey laughed, reaching out to ruffle Yugi's hair, then went into the bathroom for a shower. Annoyed with himself, Yugi stripped the bed and hauled the bedclothes down to the laundry room to be washed. As he was shoving sheets and detergent into the washer, he mentally tried to retrace his steps, but he just couldn't remember where he'd set his keys after he got home. He thought he had hooked them by the front door, like he was supposed to, but he wasn't sure now. He really did have a problem with just leaving them anywhere.

'They'll turn up,' he thought to himself.

Upstairs, he put fresh sheets, pillowcases, and a comforter on the bed. The shower was still running, so Yugi went into the closet to change clothes. It was now about noon, so there was still time to go to the store. The problem was, he couldn't drive his car without his keys.

"Joey, I'm borrowing your car to go to the store, until I can find my own!" he hollered through the bathroom door.

"I'll call the locksmith!" Joey shouted back. "They probably have your keys on file by now!"

Yugi shook his head, grabbing his wallet from the dresser and heading downstairs, grabbing Joey's keys from the ring and locking the front door. Trust Joey to always tease him unmercifully. Maybe Mean Yugi would have to make another visit.

Smiling at the thought, Yugi made a quick trip to the store for the essentials they were low on. At the store, he was stopped no less than a dozen times by people exclaiming over him being in an Erica Lynch movie. Yugi did his best to be polite, but even he was getting impatient by the time he had paid for his items and made it to the car. Even as a Duel Monsters Champion, he'd never had to deal with random fans in the street like this.

When he got back, Joey was parked on the couch, showered and dressed, watching Deathstrike IV. Yugi walked right in on a person strapped face-down on a massage table, having a small circular saw chewing into his chin to separate the front of his face from the rest of his skull.

"Joey!"

Joey looked over the back of the couch where Yugi was turned away, still holding grocery bags, wincing at the sound of a wet scream rapidly being cut off and replaced by just the high-pitched whine of the saw. Joey hit the pause button on the remote, getting to his feet.

"Come on, pal. In an hour and a half we're going to sign to be in one of these. You better get used to it." Joey flashed him a macabre smile. "Who knows? In a week, you or I could be going wind up biting it like that."

tbc…

A/N: Really sorry about the lack of update and then such a short chapter. In the last two weeks, I've worked full-time, had my finals for my classes, moved, and gotten a virus on my computer. Hopefully, now that things have settled down, I can start updating this with the pace I have been before. Please keep reading and reviewing. Later.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

Yugi climbed out of the passenger side of the car as Joey turned off the engine and got out of the driver's side, all smiles. They had just arrived at the hotel where Erica Lynch and her group were staying, ready to sign the contracts for the movie. The day was bright, warm, and sunny for October, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Yugi wondered if it was the repeating image of the man having his face sawed off that gave him a chill as he walked with Joey to the front of the hotel. As much as he hated those gruesome movies, he was not usually affected like he was this time. He believed he had even seen that part once before. Nevertheless, this time, he couldn't get the hideous image out of his head.

'It's just the knowledge you're going to be in a movie like that,' he thought to himself. 'And the break-in.'

He told himself to relax. Erica was a nice person, and he knew he could very well enjoy this experience.

The concierge at the hotel desk reminded them what conference room they were supposed to be in, and paged Erica in her room that they had arrived. They'd shown up early, Joey wanting to make a good impression, and weren't due to be in the conference room for ten minutes. Upon arriving, however, they saw they weren't the only ones there. Four other people were in the room, two men and two women, none of whom Yugi had ever met before. One man was tall and thin, with ink-black hair, eyes the same color, and pale skin. He wore black eyeliner and black fingernail polish, had a tattoo on his neck that looked like a dagger, and wore all black with a spiked dog collar. The other man was between Joey's height and Yugi's, was a little on the chubby side, had red hair and freckles and bright green eyes, and wore jeans and a red T-shirt that said Gamer For Life in white letters. The women were as diverse in appearance. One was tall and willowy in stature, with fine red hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and was wearing a schoolgirl uniform. She looked no older than seventeen. The second woman was about five and half feet tall, with the sort of body most women envied. Her thick, wavy hair was golden brown and her eyes were cornflower blue. Yugi noticed both of the unknown men in the room watching her with obvious lust, and even Joey gave her an appreciative look.

"Hi!" the redhead said brightly, bounding over. "Are you two Yugi and Joey? You are! I'm so excited to meet you!"

"Thank you," Yugi said with a smile.

"I used to watch all the Duel Monsters broadcasts, although I never played. You were excellent, it was really amazing to watch you duel. Gosh, when you two battled against Marik during Battle City-" The girl folded her arms and hunched. "It gave me the shivers. He was one really creepy guy." "He turned out all right in the end," Yugi said. "We're friends now."

"Really? Great! Ah, Yugi, it's really amazing to meet the Game King."

"Thanks." Yugi noticed the blue-eyed woman looking over at him as the brown-haired woman turned to Joey and told him how much she admired his guts to use his gamble-type deck.

"I'm Nadia," she added belatedly. "Isn't this crazy? She just picked me out of the crowd down at the History Center!"

"It's totally crazy," Joey said with a grin. "Are you a fan?"

"Yes! I have all of her movies. I see them on every opening night."

Joey laughed. "Me too."

"I think they're useless," the man with the dagger tattoo said. His voice was a slow, bored drawl. "Dull, contrived piles of manure the empty-minded masses flock to like sheep."

Joey and Nadia gave him an equal glare. "Then why'd you agree to be in one?" Nadia demanded.

"Money," the man said bluntly. "That's one thing all the sheep are good for, spewing out money for the smarter people who trick them into wasting their cash with shiny lights for two hours."

Yugi frowned while both Joey and Nadia gave him disgusted glances. The man with the red shirt joined in. "Well, if we're sheep, you're a sell-out."

"Yeah," Nadia agreed with a grin.

The man with the tattoo shrugged. Looking utterly bored, he turned toward the window. The man with the red shirt joined Yugi, Joey, and Nadia, sneering.

"What a jerk. Hi, I'm Sota." He grinned and offered his hand to Joey. "And I'm a true fan of Lynch, don't worry. The Gut Rippers are my favorite. I think I've seen each of them about twenty times."

Joey shook his hand. "Those are good. My favorite is In the Eye of Madness."

Sota's eyes widened. "Wow, hardcore."

"Good choice, Joey."

It was Erica. With a large black shoulder bag dangling from her shoulder, she walked into the room with Kevin, who was holding a large manila envelope, and another woman, a thin and pretty young woman with short brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. Eyes twinkling, Erica gestured towards the conference table and chairs in the room.

"That one was my favorite, too," she said. "One of my first."

Joey grinned happily while Sota looked good-naturedly jealous. The group moved to sit around the table, the man with the dagger tattoo clearly stand-offish, sitting at the far end of the table, no less than three chairs between him and the next person. Everyone else sat in a group, Yugi between Joey and Nadia. Erica, Kevin, and the woman with short brown hair across from them, with Sota and the stunning blue-eyed woman on the end.

"Why don't we start with introductions?" Erica said. "I know all of you of course, and you all know me. This is Kevin, my producer. To my left is Marie, one of my two makeup artists. She's fantastic." The brown-haired woman smiled. "Then we have Sota, Rin, Joey, Yugi, Nadia, and Ishio."

Rin was the blue-eyed woman and Ishio was the man with the dagger tattoo.

"Um, Ms. Lynch-" Nadia started.

"Erica, honey. Call me Erica, all of you."

Nadia blinked, blushed, and looked at the table. But she continued. "Um, didn't you say you needed eight stars? There's only six of us here."

"You have a good memory. That'll come in handy learning your lines."

Nadia flushed more deeply, studying her hands on the table. She was clearly at least as shy, if not shyer, than Yugi. Erica smiled affectionately.

"I do need eight. I just didn't find all eight before today. I won't have anyone but those I personally choose myself, and I've got to feel it before I chose someone. But don't worry. I'm sure I'll find them in time. I always do. In the meantime, we need to discuss what the six of you can expect."

Kevin opened his manila envelope and pulled out a bunch of paper packets. He started passing them out, having two left over, which he returned to the manila envelope. Yugi turned his around and studied it. At the top it said, "Standard Contract for Movie Appearance." What followed was the cut-and-dried language of legality, stating that Yugi, as the signee, would be sure to fulfill all obligations he agreed to, while Erica, as the signer, would fulfill her obligations with regards to wages, hours, and breaks.

"As you can see, it's pretty straightforward," Kevin said. "We'll be filming four days a week, trying to keep it between nine am and six pm. We'll provide you all with meals and reimbursement for traveling expenses as we go around Domino and the surrounding area to film our scenes. There's no hourly pay, it's a straight one-time payment at the conclusion of filming, which we believe shouldn't take longer than two months at best."

"How much is it?" Ishio asked rudely.

Erica looked at him. "Twenty thousand."

Yugi jerked in surprise, and he wasn't the only one. It was clear that nearly everyone was shocked by the amount of money. Except Ishio.

"That's all?" he said. "Actors make millions."

"*Professional* actors make millions," Kevin said firmly. "You are all amateurs."

Ishio subsided reluctantly. Yugi saw Joey, Nadia, and Sota all giving him dirty looks, which he was either oblivious of or ignoring. Rin had her attention fixed firmly on Erica and Kevin.

"What day do we start?" she asked, speaking for the first time. Her voice was smoky and sultry.

"Friday, if that's okay," Erica said. "We need to get started on this as soon as possible. So, here's what you've all been waiting for."

She hauled her shoulder bag up onto the table and opened it. She pulled out her own stack of paper packets, which she passed out.

"The first parts of your scripts," she said, smiling widely when Nadia and Sota made noises of eagerness. "I hope you can all read in English, as my written Japanese is pretty rusty."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except Ishio, who scowled. "We're in Japan, not America."

Erica looked unperturbed, looking at Kevin, who said, "Don't worry, we'll get you a script in Japanese. We'll have it in the mail tonight. For now, just make do with that one. Anyone else need a Japanese one?"

Everyone shook their heads, Nadia and Sota most forcefully. Yugi took his own script. At the top, written in red pen, was his name, and another name, Jason Maxwell. He wondered if this was his character. Yugi glanced at Joey's packet. On it was his name and the name Adam Jordan.

"As you can see, you each have your own script. Each script is the same, except it tells which character is yours, and highlights your lines. I think it'll help you keep track. You're welcome to read everything, of course, but remember, it stops after Act I. No sense trying to find out what happens later on- none of us will tell you."

Sota was already reading the first page of his script. Erica laughed and rapped the table with her knuckles. Sota jerked and looked up, embarrassed. He pushed the script away a little and folded his hands on top of it. "Sorry."

"And last, but not least, if you'll all sign those contracts," Kevin said, producing pens and sliding them across the table to each person present.

Yugi took his pen. Ishio took his with clear reluctance, his eyes skimming across the pages of his contract. Nadia saw.

"You're reading your contract, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm reading it. Only a fool would sign something they hadn't read."

"But you asked for a Japanese script. I thought you couldn't read English?"

"I didn't say that. I said we're in Japan, and we are. So they ought to have Japanese-language stuff. Americans always think everyone else will accommodate them."

Yugi frowned, and he wasn't the only one. This Ishio was a very unlikable person, and clearly just trying to be. Erica still didn't seem bothered, though Kevin and Marie were definitely beginning to look as disgusted as the others.

"Well, we'll get you the Japanese script right away," Erica said. "I want everyone to be comfortable. In the meantime, since you can read the contract, do you think you might sign it?"

Sota, Nadia, and Joey immediately put their pens to their papers. Yugi glanced down at his, then signed where it indicated. After putting down his signature and his initials several times, he laid his pen down, then stared at the contract.

It was done.

"Excellent, excellent," Erica said. "Great, thank you! If you'll just hand them back to Kevin. Any questions?"

"Are you going to be training us any?" Nadia asked. "I mean… none of us *have* acted before."

"Oh, I'll be there to guide you, of course. But I have faith in you. I've a good eye for these sorts of things." Erica smiled. "And after all this time, I have it down pat."

"I should think so," Marie said with a grin. Her voice was as sweet and high-pitched as a girl's.

"Now, for an overview," Erica said. "We're still using the working title Massacre Valley for now. You six are the main characters. Yugi, Joey, Sota, Nadia, you four start at the beginning, four childhood friends on a road trip back home to your families during summer break. Rin, Ishio, you two are siblings-"

Rin looked at Ishio with clear uncertainty and dislike. Ishio ignored her, staring down at his script without looking up. Yugi thought there could hardly be a pair who looked less like siblings.

"-who convince these four to go out of their way to drop you off at your own hometown after… well, you'll get to that later as you read your scripts. Nadia, honey, your character is very brainy and energetic, full of life and love of knowledge. Think you can do that?"

"Of course!" Nadia said happily.

"I thought so. Sota, you're the jokester, always wanting to get one up on your friends, especially Joey's Adam. You two have a bit of a rivalry going way back and you're as much at each other's throats as having each other's backs."

"Got it," Sota said.

"Ishio, you're the loner, the quiet, doom-saying type who keeps to himself and only agrees to go with these four because your sister won't let you rest otherwise."

Ishio said nothing, but Yugi was fairly certain Erica knew exactly what she was doing casting him in that particular role.

"Joey, you're the athletic type, aggressive and the leader, so sure you know what's going on, even when things start to happen. Ok?"

"Sounds good."

"Yugi, Jason's an artist type, especially painting. You've got an eye for scenery everywhere you go and you're a more cautious voice to Adam's headstrong attitude."

Yugi smiled secretly, thinking that that last part wouldn't be hard to mimic at all, especially with Joey opposite him. "I understand."

"And finally, Rin, you're Ishio's older, more outgoing sister. You're the party girl, always looking for a good time, and eager to join new situations. You have no qualms at all demanding a ride from Joey and his friends when you meet up, because you no know shame or shyness. Your character, Eve, has an immediate thing for Jason and she gets right to the pursuing."

Yugi's eyes widened. He turned his head to look at Rin, who gave him an assessing look and smiled with obvious pleasure. Beside her, Sota was looking envious and amused. Yugi gave Rin a tentative smile back, feeling his cheeks beginning to burn. Erica, all business, hurried them back to their scripts.

"We're heading out to the Domino Seaside Inn to start things off. Meet here on Friday at eight-thirty and we'll have a bus ready to take you all out to the Inn. No need to bring anything; we'll have everything we'll need. Any more questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"All right, then," Kevin said smartly, picking up his manila envelope and standing, Erica and Marie following suit, and the rest quickly joining them. "We hope to see you all on Friday on time. Remember, this is going to be a blast, but it is a job!"

"Have a good few days," Erica added. "We'll be looking forward to seeing you all on Friday, and don't hesitate to come to any of us if you do think of any questions." She looked at her watch. "Now I'm off to go hunt my last two crew."

She left the room abruptly. Kevin and Marie said goodbye and left as well, leaving the six in the meeting room, though Ishio left without another word not a minute later. Sota glared at his back and turned to the rest with a dark look on his face.

"What an ass. Here's hoping he's the first done in!"

tbc…

A/N: Well, I hope you're all still enjoying this story. I know it's frustrating waiting for updates, but real life won't be ignored. I am having fun writing this, though, and I really hope people will continue to read and review! Thanks so much!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

Yugi pushed open the door to the apartment, walking inside with Joey right on his heels. He sighed as Joey bumped into the jamb, then the side table on which stood an entrance lamp, making said lamp wobble, and lastly into the back of the couch. The reason was Joey had his copy of the script open and was reading intently.

"Joey, don't you think you should stop long enough to see where you're going?" Yugi asked, edging the entrance lamp back to its original position and shutting the front door.

Joey lowered the script and looked at him. "Sorry, Yug'. But it's so awesome! Have you read any of it?"

"Since I drove us home, no."

He had taken the keys from Joey and driven home because Joey already had his nose buried in his script almost as soon as Erica had walked out of the door. Joey grinned, holding out his script, where he appeared to be on page five. "I just got to the part where we stop at the diner where we meet the siblings. There's a lot of set-up dialogue before that, where we're driving home from college, but it still looks like this is going to be a great movie. It's weird, Yug'. Jason is almost completely like you."

"He is?"

"Yeah. Look, on page two, he breaks up a fight between me, Adam, and Sota's character Akihiro. On page three, he sits on a rock at a rest stop and sketches the view down a valley, really passionate about it. It's like you and games, only with drawing. He's a sweet guy, a peacemaker, kinda quiet, but really friendly."

Yugi smiled. He held up his own copy of the script. "And how close is Adam to you?"

Joey laughed. "I think he's kinda like me, yeah. He's a brawler. But he's into sports and I think he's a womanizer."

Not as close to Joey as it had first seemed, then. Joey was a brawler, but he wasn't much of a sports player or follower and even if he had been into women, he was far from the type to love 'em and leave 'em. Yugi looked at his script, then back up at Joey.

"Okay, why don't I go make us some hot chocolate and we'll sit down and start memorizing our lines?"

Joey grinned and flopped on the couch. "This is awesome."

Yugi set his script on the entrance table, then walked into the kitchen. He put a pot of milk on to boil, then rummaged in the cabinets until he found the half-empty package of chocolate chip cookies. He piled those onto a plate, added the boiling milk to mugs, then the cocoa powder, then carried the whole lot out into the living room. Joey took the plate from him to set it on the coffee table, pulling his legs up onto the couch, and resting his forearm on the armrest of the couch. After retrieving his script from the entrance table, Yugi sat down, pulling his legs in under him and leaning his forearm against Joey's thigh, the small of his back against his stomach, his feet under Joey's ribs. They often cuddled like this on the couch.

Yugi turned to the first page of the script, under the cover letter. It jumped in right on the scene of the four main characters packing up the SUV they would be sharing on the ride back to town. A few lines of dialogue established the implication that the four of them had been friends since high school and had applied to, and been accepted to, the same college, and that they were returning home for summer break after their first year away. Indeed, as Joey had said, Adam and Akihiro quickly got into a fight over how to pack the SUV and Jason intervened. The four got on the road and headed out of town on their destination halfway across the country to home. The characters' personalities were obvious from the first minute, and exactly as Erica had described to them. Jason was the quiet, artistic type who was nevertheless friendly and often in good humor. Yugi tried to get a feel for the character, picturing himself doing the things Jason did in the script.

"I don't know how to draw."

"What?" Joey asked, clearly pulled from deep within the script.

"Where he sits on the rock and draws the view. How am I supposed to do that?"

"Oh. I dunno. I bet you won't have to. If they do show the picture, like with an over-the-shoulder shot, Erica will have someone else draw who has the talent for it and just give the picture to you to hold. You know, like dubbing over someone else's singing voice."

Yugi nodded, going back to reading. He leaned forward to snag his cooled mug from the coffee table, sipping it while he read through the first act. An hour later, he was finished, his brain hurting from trying to memorize everything, including the italicized areas indicating movement, scene changes, and character expressions. Joey, a bit of a slower reader, was nearly at the end as Yugi flipped his script closed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The first act really didn't have anything all that interesting to it. It was mostly set up, establishing character, setting, and motivation. Clearly, the real action wouldn't happen until later, although their characters had met the characters of Rin and Ishio. Erica was right, Rin's character immediately went for Yugi's, openly flirting with him in a scene in the bathroom of the diner where they agreed to take the siblings to their hometown on the way after causing an accident that totaled the siblings' junky old car. Yugi felt embarrassed just reading the flirty scene, wondering how he was going to be able to pull off acting when he couldn't read the dialogue without blushing.

"Wow, Yuki sure has a thing for you," Joey said, flipping closed the script.

"I know," Yugi said.

"Ah, come on, you'll be fine. Come on, let's practice memorizing a bit. I'll read everyone else's lines from the script page and you try to memorize yours."

They spent the next few hours attempting to memorize their lines. Joey proved to be surprisingly adept, even better than Yugi, possibly because he was so into the idea of being in the movie, and possibly because of his training as a duelist. Both he and Yugi had been required to memorize many monster, spell, and trap card names, attributes, weaknesses, and abilities and they were good at it.

When they decided to finally take a break, Joey was in great spirits. The scripts sat together on the coffee table with the empty cookie plate and hot cocoa mugs, and the pair of them had moved on to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Yugi washed, peeled, and cut vegetables while Joey fried hamburger meat to put in tomato sauce for spaghetti. He couldn't stop chattering about the movie.

"We are going to be great at this," he said, turning over a large portion of browning hamburger. "We had no trouble memorizing that stuff, Yug'. Erica's going to be proud. What do you think's going to happen to us, later on?"

Yugi frowned, adding sliced mushrooms to the tomato sauce. It felt odd for Joey to refer to the characters as 'us' when the movie was fiction, but Yugi didn't object. "I don't have any idea," he said honestly. "She said the movie was called Massacre Valley or something. I suppose it'll be about a bunch of mutants slaughtering people who wander onto their property. Isn't that how they always go?"

Joey sighed. "You sound just like Kaiba. They're not *all* like that. Not Erica's. Yeah, there's a lot of blood and guts, and that's intentional, but there's also a lot of actual story to them. She hasn't gotten a lot of rewards and nominations for nothing."

"Sorry. Anyway, I don't think we can really guess until we get at least the second part of the script. This one didn't really set anything up just yet."

"True. What do you think of our fellow actors?"

"I think everyone is fine."

"Even Ishio?"

"Well..."

Joey laughed. "Come on, Yug', admit it, he's an ass."

"We didn't really get a chance to get to him."

"He's an ass. You don't have to get to know him to know that."

"Kaiba acted like that, and look-"

"He's still an ass."

Yugi smiled a little, but admonished Joey just the same. "Yami loves him."

"Yeah, well. I'm with Sota. Ishio needs to kick it, and soon. The sooner he bites it, and gets off set, the better the movie'll be. You watch; he'll be the most hated character by the audience. They'll probably cheer when the killer guts him."

"That's not nice. Besides, if he's such a horrible character, he'll probably stay on to close to the end, if he gets killed at all. That way, when and if he does get his comeuppance, it will seem all the sweeter."

"Wow, Yug', cold-hearted."

"I'm just speaking from the metaphorical audience's perspective."

"Uh-huh."

The finished making dinner and sat down to eat. The subject was changed from the movie to the dinner they had planned on Saturday. They had invited Yami and Kaiba, Joey's sister Serenity, Tea, and Tristan. Whether Kaiba would show up was not certain, which was fine with Joey, but everyone else was on board.

"Do you mind if Tristan comes to watch us film?" Joey asked, turning back to the movie. "He was really jealous when I told him, and he asked if he could come watch. I think Tea wanted to come, too."

The idea of trying to perform in front of cameras already gave Yugi butterflies, but the idea of trying to do it in front of his friends as well was almost too much to bear. Still, he nodded. He couldn't say no. "Of course. Did you tell them it was on Friday?"

"I will after dinner. I haven't told Serenity anything about the movie yet. She's so busy with college and her job, that I don't think she'd have time to come watch anyway, and I don't want her thinking she has to. Think Yami will come watch?"

Yugi hadn't told his dark half any new details about the movie, but he knew he would update him. "He might."

Yugi put away the leftovers and stacked the dishes in the sink while Joey trotted upstairs to call Tristan and Tea on the bedroom phone. Yugi wandered into the living room, opening his link to Yami as he went. Yami answered his mental knock with a greeting.

/Hi, Yami. How are you?/

/Fine, Aibou. And yourself?/

/Everything's good. Are you still planning to come to dinner on Saturday?/

/Yes, of course. Though Seto won't tell me if he is coming or not./

/Tell him he's welcome if he decides to./

Yami smiled mentally. /He knows, Aibou. I don't think that makes it better. Did you go to the meeting you had with Erica Lynch today?/

/Yes. We signed the contracts and got the first part of our scripts./

/Do you feel more confident now?/

/Not at all. Even worse. Tristan and Tea are coming to watch. Will you? We start on Friday at nine in the morning./

/I will not if it makes you uncomfortable, Aibou./

Yugi shrugged his shoulders, rearranging some of the clutter that always seemed to accumulate in the living room. /If Tristan and Tea are coming, it won't make much of a difference if you don't. You're welcome to come if you want to. Maybe having you guys there will actually make it better./

/Cheering you on, like during your tournaments?/

Yugi smiled, nodding. /Right./ Yugi laughed a little. /Who knows. Erica is still looking for a couple of people to star and a lot of extras. Maybe she'll take one look at you and cast you in the movie./

Yami's mental aura darkened a little and he seemed genuinely concerned about the possibility. /You don't believe she will, do you?/

/What's wrong? You told me to be more confident!/

Yami muttered lowly. Yugi laughed again, moving to sort through the mail stacked in the receiving tray on the entrance table. Behind him, he heard Joey's footsteps coming down the stairs.

/Are you coming?/

/Yes, I will be there./

Something metallic caught Yugi's eye as he picked up the stack of mail from the tray. Curious, he peered over and exclaimed, "Here they are!"

/What is it?/ Yami asked.

"What, Yug'?"

"Look." Yugi pulled the metallic object from where it was wedged in the small space between the entrance table and the wall. "My keys." /I lost these a few days ago./

/Again?/

"You found 'em?"

"Yeah, they were stuck between the table and the wall." Yugi looked up at the key rack hanging on the wall above the entrance table. Joey came up behind him, peering over his shoulder.

"They must have fallen and gotten wedged and we missed them when we were looking," he said.

Yugi hung the keys up on the rack, taking extra care that the ring was securely around the peg. Joey grinned at him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Well, at least that's not the most unusual place they've ended up. Like the cold cuts drawer of the refrigerator."

Yugi sighed, knowing that Joey was unlikely to ever let him forget that incident.

"I don't understand it, Yug'. You never had problems with your school stuff or your Duel Monsters cards. Just the keys."

Well, it was true that Yugi had a habit of throwing his possessions everywhere when he was using them. There had been more than one instance when he had been surrounded by Duel cards laying all over the place when he'd been sorting his deck for duels. He'd done the same when doing his homework, being in the circle of books, papers, folders, and pens. The kitchen often looked like a disaster area whenever he was cooking dinner, regardless of whether Joey often praised his cooking. He was simply that way with his things, though it was true that only his keys somehow turned up missing on a regular basis.

"Well, I've found them," Yugi said. "They're back where they belong." And then, because he knew it was coming, he said simultaneously with Joey, "For now."

Joey laughed, hooked an arm around his shoulders, and bent to kiss his forehead. He went into the kitchen to do the dishes, calling over his shoulder that Tristan and Tea would be at the set at nine am on Saturday to watch the first day of filming. Yugi moved to sit at the couch while he sorted the mail.

/Erica never said anything against friends and family coming to watch, so I'm sure you'll welcome,/ he said to Yami.

/I'll be there. It is likely to be an interesting experience for you./

….

At nine am on Saturday morning, Yugi and Joey were standing with Sota and Nadia in the meeting room of the hotel where they had all signed their contracts. They had been waiting perhaps ten minutes, though Rin, Ishio, Erica, and Kevin had not yet shown. Joey, Sota, and Nadia were talking excitedly about the upcoming shoot, their takes on the script and their characters, and what they thought the movie would hold later. Yugi stood with them, but didn't really participate in the conversation, waiting for Erica to show and tell them what to expect. His stomach was on a consistent low upset, the butterflies not quite in full motion.

Rin and Ishio showed up about five minutes later, Rin slightly ahead of Ishio. Ishio looked his typical heavy metal, dour self, complete with spiked dog collar and dagger tattoo, and Rin looked beautiful, wearing a well-fitting yellow sundress that set off golden highlights in her brown hair and accentuated her pale blue eyes. Nadia, who was not half so pretty, nevertheless looked quite cute in a short jean skirt and pink top. She did not seem threatened by the prettier girl and went to welcome Rin enthusiastically when she appeared.

"Sorry I'm late," Rin said. "Has she been here?"

"Not yet."

"Good. I think she found her two other actors. When I was just downstairs, there was a couple of people standing at the concierge's desk, asking to see Erica. They didn't have any luggage."

"Ooh, what did they look like?" Nadia asked.

"One was a man, real tall and tan, with dark hair and eyes. Pretty cute. The other was a woman, kind of chubby but she had the prettiest blond hair."

"I hope they are the other two," Sota said. "I want to get started on this movie."

"I bet she'll start filming even if she hasn't found them yet," Joey said. "If she wants to make her March deadline."

"Well, she can't get started if she doesn't show up," Ishio said sourly. "What kind of director is late to her own filming?"

"You were late as well," Nadia said.

Ishio shrugged and turned away. Everyone glared at his back for a moment, then went back to talking. However, they didn't have long to wait, as Erica, Kevin, and Marie walked in not two minutes later, trailing the couple Rin had seen downstairs. The man was Rin's male counterpart, with masculine good looks of the type that made girls swoon the world over and the woman was indeed chubby, but possessing of a sweet round face and hair as thick and luxurious as Mai Valentine's had ever been. She was as out-going as Nadia and greeted everyone with a bright hello even before Erica introduced her.

"Hi, I'm Daisy. I know you; you're Yugi Moto. I tried Duel Monsters once, but I wasn't any good at it. And you're Joey Wheeler, right?"

"Right," Joey said as Yugi smiled. "Are you a fan of the Lynch films?"

Daisy laughed and shook her head. "Nope! I've never seen any of them probably. I like fantasy stuff. But when a world-famous director looks at you on the street and says she wants you in her movie, how can you say no?"

"Exactly," Erica said with a smile. "You don't. Group, this is Daisy Miller and Mark Aquilar. I think they'll round out our cast nicely, don't you think? In fact, Daisy, if you'll follow Kevin and me, we need to talk to you about your part first. Mark, if you'll stay with the group. Marie, can you get them situated on the bus?"

"Bus?" Ishio said sourly. "On a multimillion budget like yours?"

"It's not that sort of bus. Why don't you just go see? Daisy, follow me, please."

"All right, gang, let's go," Marie said sweetly. "Does everyone have their scripts with them? I hope you've been preparing!"

She led them from the conference room, moving like a dancer down the hallway and back out to the lobby. She led them outside and down the sidewalk to where a gigantic, jet-black tour bus stood parked at the side of the building. Yugi clambered on with the rest, finding the interior to be almost as expensive and cushy as any of the suites in the hotel the bus was parked at. The floor was carpeted in wine-purple plush and there were three black leather couches lined up in a U-shape behind the driver's seat around a white-marble table. There was one stand-alone loveseat with a window behind it across from this set-up and further along the bus there was a kitchenette with brushed-steel fridge, sink, oven, microwave, and oak-wood cabinets. In the back, Yugi could see a door that opened up onto a small bedroom; he could see a twin-sized bed with covers the same shade as the carpet. On the walls were two large framed paintings of abstract art bolted down. On the ceiling over the table was a large light fixture with a cut-and-frosted glass cover in the shape of a white rose.

Joey whistled. "Wow. Now this is a bus."

"It's beautiful," Nadia said.

"Make yourselves at home," Marie said. "There's snacks and drinks in the refrigerator. That wall there, behind the driver's seat, it rolls down for a TV, and the one on the opposite side there, that houses a stereo. Erica just needs to talk to Daisy for a few minutes, and I need to go find my assistant, and then we'll be on our way."

She scooted past them and disembarked. Yugi moved to the table setup and slid into the booth. Joey followed him and they were soon joined by Nadia, Rin, Sota, and Mark. Ishio, unsurprisingly, went to sit by himself on the loveseat next to the kitchenette. He turned to stare out of the window and ignored them and they returned the favor.

"Wow, I kind of feel like a rockstar," Nadia said. "I imagine these are the kinds of buses KISS and whoever tour around on."

"Probably," Sota agreed. "What do you think she wanted to talk to Daisy about?"

Everyone looked at Mark, who shrugged. When he spoke for the first time, his voice was heavily accented, even moreso than Joey's. Yugi wasn't sure of the accent, but he believed it might have been a midwestern American accent. His pronunciation was spot-on, so he hadn't been a recent transfer to Japan.

"I don't know," he said. "I only met Daisy downstairs. But I expect it has something to do with her character."

"Ooh, maybe it's a secret," Nadia said. "A twist none of us are supposed to know about. Maybe her character's the killer."

"Erica's never done a woman killer," Sota said thoughtfully.

"Maybe she is in this one."

"Daisy doesn't look like the type to be a killer," Joey said doubtfully.

"That's what would make it such a surprise!"

"She has to be careful about the difference between a surprise and a ludicrous twist that doesn't make any sense," Mark said. "And Daisy's character being a murderer doesn't seem like the first one." He tapped his own script, though it was upside down to Yugi and the writing was too small to make out which character was his. "I don't know which one is hers in here, but if you all have been signed on to play the main cast, it doesn't look like she'd be set up to be a killer while coming off as a regular person during the first part."

"Maybe not, but she still could be one," Nadia said. "Not all of the killers are in the movie before the killing starts."

Mark just shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you think we're going to do today?" Nadia asked the group. "Start filming?"

Joey shook his head. "This early? We barely know our first lines, I bet. She won't want to waste film."

"But she said she had to get this started right away. To get it done by March."

"I bet its just practice," Sota countered. "You know, put us in the setting, maybe costumes if there are any, but try to get us memorizing our lines with everyone present."

"That sounds likely," Nadia agreed. "Ooh, I'm nervous."

So was Yugi. He still could hardly believe this was happening, and now that the whole group was here, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do this. Not to mention Yami, Tristan, and Tea were surely coming. The thought of trying to act in front of them made his stomach twist in knots. He had always hated being the center of attention. As he sat there in silent anxiety, the group turned to discussing their characters and how they felt about them. Yugi looked around the bus, trying to distract himself from his tumultuous thoughts, and his gaze happened to fall on Ishio. The man was looking at the group, and there was such a look of deep disgust on his face that stared. Ishio saw him looking and his lip curled before he turned away to look back out the window.

"That ass has such a bad attitude," Joey murmured softly to Yugi, startling him. He hadn't realized Ishio had drawn Joey's attention, too.

"Ugh, I know," Nadia said, also whispering.

"Ignore him," Rin advised. "If he doesn't act professionally when we're on set, I bet Erica boots him. And if he does, well, at least we'll only have to deal with him on set."

"So, who do you think gets offed first?" Sota asked, drawing everyone's attention. "Come on, first hunches, now that we've all read the first Act."

"Who do you think gets killed?" Nadia said. "You've obviously thought about it."

"Ishio gets my vote," Joey said sourly.

"You said that already," Sota pointed out. "I said who you think gets it, not who you think should."

Everyone laughed, except Yugi, who looked back at the silent, distant figure on the love seat. Ishio had heard. The look he gave the group this time made the first one look like a smile. He looked like he would dearly love to rush over and beat everyone's faces in. Yugi swallowed nervously and looked away. He got a bad feeling from Ishio, and it wasn't just his clear hatred of the group. Something dark boiled beneath the surface. Yugi wondered who Ishio was in his real life. What did a man who so clearly hated people do?"

All right," Sota said, drawing Yugi back to the discussion. "I think you totally bite it first, Nadia."

"Me!" she exclaimed. "Why do *I* get to die first?"

"Your character is such a sweet, innocent little girl," Sota said. "Not the kind who turns out to have this fighter buried down deep that comes out when she's in danger and she makes it to the end despite all odds. Your character is the helpless little maiden in distress."

"Yours is the jock who's always making jokes," Nadia countered. "I bet Akihiro gets a knife through the chest right when he's making some joke about the killer, just for the irony."

"Maybe," Sota said agreeably. "It would make sense. What about you, Rin? Who's your guess?"

"I don't know, I think I agree with Nadia," Rin said. "Akihiro spends the last half of the Act joking about how they're in an abandoned inn and trying to stare the girls, and it just cuts off there. I'm with her, I bet he gets gutted, just to tell the audience there really is something to be afraid of."

"Fair enough. 2 votes for me. I guess I'd better start on that Last Will and Testament."

The group laughed, and this time Yugi joined in, though he realized his sounded slightly forced. Mark voted for Akihiro also, agreeing with the women that it made the most sense, and adding that just because they didn't yet know the ending didn't mean Nadia's character wouldn't turn out to be that unlikely survivor. "The real women's power heroine," he said.

"Yeah, but Erica doesn't really do that," Joey said. "Most of her movies don't play to the women's power stuff you see in some of these modern horror movies where the girl kicks ass and survives."

"She doesn't not do it," Rin pointed out. "I watched some of these over the weekend to try and get a feel for what we're going to be doing and-" She shuddered. "They were totally gross, but Devil's Promise had that Libby character and she was the only survivor of the film. She killed the murderer and everything."

"True," Joey agreed. "Although, usually, no one makes it."

"Isn't that depressing?" Yugi asked. He really didn't remember details like this, as he either kept his eyes closed or left the room.

"Yeah. Horror movies aren't about all the feel-good stuff," Sota said.

Daisy joined them not long after that. She looked a bit disappointed as she sat down next Nadia.

"What's wrong?" Nadia asked her. She looked worried. "She didn't cut you out, did she?"

"No. And I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Tell us what? Come on, now we want to know even more."

Daisy looked up, then sighed. She glanced over her shoulder, though none of the movie people had come to the bus with her. She turned back and lowered her voice nonetheless.

"I wasn't cut out, but I won't be with you guy for very long. Erica just told me, said she wanted me to know ahead of time, see how I reacted, and to get me ready. I die first."

tbc…

A/N: After all that, at least the chapter is long, right?

EDIT: Formatting fixed.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Nadia made a noise of dismay. "Oh, Daisy, I'm sorry."

Daisy shrugged her shoulders, but she looked dishearted. "I guess someone has to be, right?"

"Right," Sota said. "But, hey, look at it this way. You'll be the first one to give the audience a good scream. That first death that gives them chills and makes them sit on the edge of their seat, biting their nails, wondering what's going to happen next."

Daisy smiled at Sota a little, clearly appreciating his attempt at making her feel better. "Yeah, maybe so."

"We were just sitting here discussing who we thought was going to go first," Sota continued. "Now that we know it's you, now we can decide just how you're going to get it."

Daisy laughed. "Okay, that sounds like fun."

"Okay, gang," Marie said, making them all start. She was just climbing onto the bus, talking as she went. "This is Joanna, my assistant." Climbing up behind her was a dainty-looking woman with very short blonde hair and eerily pale green eyes. She smiled at them, but said nothing. "She and I are in charge of all the make up and wardrobe when we get starting on shooting the film. Erica and Kevin went on ahead and are going to meet us at the Inn. They had some crisis with one of the film crew breaking an expensive piece of equipment." Marie rolled her eyes. "Sorry about your wait, Erica was on the phone getting the story. Joanna and I are going to be following the bus in our car. Your driver is walking up as we speak. Anybody need anything before we head off? It's about an hour drive. There's plenty of soda in the fridge and some chips and cookies in the cabinets, but that's all we have right now. There'll be a formal breakfast at the shoot if you're hungry enough then. Any questions?"

No one, not even Ishio, had anything to say, so Marie waved and disembarked with Joanna. Not a minute later, a man climbed on. He was a big, beefy man with tattoos covering both of his bulging bare arms and a nasty scar on the side of his face at the jawline. His black hair was short and spiky and he had a ring in his left ear. His jeans were ratty and stained, but despite his rough-and-tumble appearence, he gave the group a friendly grin. He was missing one of his front teeth.

"Hey, I'm Max, I'm your driver, and one of your security for when you all's famous and what."

"Security? Looking like that?" Sota said. "I think you want to go for looking a bit more fearsome, people won't take you seriously. I mean, I only had heart attack, I haven't crapped myself yet."

Max laughed, shaking his head, and swung into the driver's seat out of sight. The bus rumbled to life a moment later and pulled away from the sidewalk. Joey, who had perked up at the mention of snacks, quickly raided both the fridge and the cabinets with Sota and unloaded a double armful on the table. An expensive machine, the bus rode as smooth as glass and the group settled in for the drive. Bags of pretzels, potato chips, cheese crackers, chocolate candy, and marshmallows, cans of soda and ginger ale, and a round tin of cookeis were opened and strewn about for people to grab what they wanted. As they ate, the group returned to the topic before they'd been interrupted.

"Okay, Daisy, first guess," Sota said, popping pretzels into his mouth. "What's it going to be?"

Daisy laughed, swallowing a marshmallow. "Um, butcher knife in the heart."

"Classic." Sota grinned, turning to Rin, who was seated next to him on the end, across from Daisy. "What about you?"

"Nail gun."

"Good, good. Um, I'm going to go with falling from a high place, like being thrown off the inn's roof or out a window. Splat."

The group laughed. Nadia was next, rounding out the women. "Something more lasting. Garrotte."

Sota whistled. "Nice."

Yugi was next, and he faltered. Out of everyone, he had seen the least amount of horror movies, but he went with the first thing that popped into his head. "Spike through the eye."

Joey looked down at him with surprise, impressed. "Nice, Yug'."

Daisy shuddered. "No."

Joey thought for a minute, munching on potato chips. "Beheading. Quick, splash blood at the camera, make the audience jump."

Mark shook his head. "Drowning. Real slow and angsty, blue tint on the film, no sound."

Sota raised his eyebrows. "Detailed, I like it." Then he leaned around the edge of the booth seat and looked at Ishio. "What about you?"

Ishio turned away from the window long enough to give him a withering look, then turned his attention back. Sota shrugged, straightening up. "Hey, I tried."

"More than I would have done," Nadia said.

As the conversation finally left gore and centered on the best movies of all time of all genres, Yugi turned his thoughts inward and opened his half of the link. /Yami?/

Yami answered instantly.

/We're just now starting our way there,/ Yugi said apologetically. /Sorry we'll be late./

/We just arrived ourselves, Aibou. I believe we are at the right place?/

He gave the address and Yugi affirmed it. /Did Kaiba come with you?/

/No. Tristan and Tea drove me./

Yugi hadn't thought Kaiba would attend. /What does it look like, the Inn?/

/Quaint, I suppose is the term. It is a two-floor cottage house, with a large porch and pale pink shutters./

Yugi smiled. That didn't sound so bad. It sounded like one of the Inns based off of the traditional American style. It probably had gables and gingerbread eaves and maybe even a widow's walk on top, even though the ocean would be miles away from the location. /We'll be there about in an hour,/ he said.

/I will let Tea and Tristan know. They are checking out the view. There is a small cliff at the back of the property overlooking the forest. I doubt we'll even notice the hour- it is very pretty here./

Pleased that they wouldn't be sitting bored in the car, Yugi said, /Good. You won't be in the crew's way, will you?/

/There are people setting up inside the house and around the yard, but this is some distance back. They have not said anything to us yet. Tea told one of the men that we were your friends and he gave us little cards to wear around our necks that say we're with you./

/Okay. See you soon./

Yugi felt Joey's thigh briefly press against his. He turned his head to look up at him and Joey nodded toward Mark. He realized that the other man had asked him a question while he'd been talking to Yami. Joey, who had guessed what he was doing, had tried to get his attention surreptitiously.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"Nervous?" Daisy asked sympathetically.

"Yes, sorry." It wasn't a lie.

"I just asked what the future is for the King of Games," Mark said. "I used to play, amateurly. Does Pegasus have any plans for the game and would you continue to play if he did?"

"Oh. I don't know if there is any future Duel Monsters plans." The game had begun to fade from popularity, although not by much yet. "I'm not really in touch with Pegasus, and I guess if he really had any plans, he'd announce it publicly. But, yeah, if anything happens, I'll still play."

"How'd you get so good at it?" Nadia asked.

"Um, just practice, really."

"And a whole lot of natural talent," Joey said with a grin. "Don't sell yourself short, Yug', you pick up any game you come across."

That was stretching the truth a bit, but Yugi smiled warmly at the praise. "Maybe a little bit," he admitted.

"Have you ever played poker?" Mark asked. "I always have a deck of cards on me." He pulled said deck out of his coat pocket. The thin cardboard box was worn and faded. "It's my good luck charm," he said. "Long story. Do you play?"

"No, I've never tried it."

"Just don't bet anything," Joey advised. "Yug' will pick this game up like he's been playing it since birth."

"We'll see about that," Mark said good-naturedly, sliding the deck from the box. Like the box, the cards were worn and old-looking, the pictures as faded as if they'd spent years in the sun, though still visible. "Anyone else in?"

They all were, so Mark explained the rules, shuffled and cut the deck, and they played to pass the time heading to the Inn. In the end, Yugi did not win any hand, although he did quickly pick up the game and the strategy and finished second over all. Sota and Nadia had both played poker a few times and were impressed with Yugi's knack. Joey, who had never played before either nevertheless finished fourth behind Nadia. Daisy was abysmal at it and got the least amount of points over all.

"Told you," Joey said when they'd played a half dozen times and finally had enough.

"I didn't win at all," Yugi said.

"No, but you came close."

"Close isn't the same as winning."

"He's so modest," Daisy said with a smile. "You're not conceited at all and you're a big star."

Yugi blushed and looked down at his hands. "Not really. Just in the game, and that's over."

"I always liked your stuff best, though," Nadia said to Joey, surprising him. "A gamble deck. You always took huge risks and it almost always paid off. I have Panther Warrior and Lady Panther as my best cards in my cat-based deck. I got them because you had them and they seemed perfect for me."

Joey grinned, flattered. "Thanks. I always liked taking risks. It's the best way to duel."

"Hey, all! We're here, you know," Max shouted from the front seat.

Everyone turned to look out the huge window behind Yugi, Joey, and Nadia. Craning to look ahead, Yugi watched as the tour bus turned onto a wide, well-kept dirt road, that led through the thick trees of a forest. The road was fairly short and after a few twists that probably covered no more than five or six miles, the road opened up onto the Inn's property. A huge front lot contained a barn and two paddocks on the right side, inside which were seven or eight horses, which made Rin and Nadia exclaim happily. A sign proclaimed that the Inn offered morning and evening horseback rides for twenty-five bucks an adult and fifteen for kids. On the left side of the road was a orchard of cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees, and a pretty fountain with benches surrounding it in the center. Beyond both lay the Inn, which sat at the end of the road. Yami was right, it was a cottage-style two-story house with all the gingerbreading and gables Yugi had imagined. Snow-white with pale pink shutters and porch beams, it looked brand-new. A sign out front called it the Cherrywood Inn, though its colors were more of the cherry blossom than the cherry wood.

"Wow," Rin breathed. "It's beautiful."

"All of ya out," Max said cheerfully after he had pulled up parallel to the Inn and cut the engine. He opened the doors and got up, leading the group off the bus.

As the group disembarked, Yugi did not see Yami, Tristan, or Tea anywhere, but he did see Tea's shiny Volvo parked under a towering tree in a parking lot a little off to the left of the Inn. The parking lot was crammed with cars, vans, and a big truck.

Max did not wait for them to find out where they were going. As soon as they had all disembarked the bus, he headed off towards a group of people standing the shade of a copse of trees at the edge of the parking lot. Judging by the general beefiness and rough appearence of the group, they were all security. Why they all needed to be here, Yugi didn't know, and he wasn't sure if it was standard procedure.

/Yami, we're here,/ he announced. /We just pulled up./

/We are still here at the cliff,/ Yami responded. /Tea packed a picnic lunch./

/That's fine. There's no rush- we haven't seen Erica yet./

/Will you join us?/

/Joey and I will find you when we're clear to go,/ Yugi assured him. /First, though, I think we need to check in with Erica./

"So... do we just go to the Inn?" Sota said uncertainly.

"Guess so," Joey said. "Come on, let's go check it out. We can ask some of those guys what we're supposed to do."

A group of people were on the porch of the house, setting up two tall cameras, a bunch of lights, and a few boom mikes. Joey started that way and everyone else followed. The parking lot was only a short distance from the property and everything here seemed so fresh and cheerful. The sun was bright and warm, the grass and leaves green, and the Inn itself welcoming. It looked like the kind of place a vacationing couple could spend a lovely weekend retreat.

Joey climbed up the porch steps and approached the group setting up. One middle-aged man looked up from where he was wrestling a boom mike into a brace as they came up.

"Hi," Joey said cheerfully. "We're the cast, I guess. Do you know what we're supposed to do?"

"No. Ask Erica."

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah. Kitchen."

"Thanks."

The man did not seemed necessarily rude, but he was definitely harried. No one else even looked up. Yugi thanked him as well and the group turned to the doors, which were propped open to facilitate bringing in equipment. Spools of cable were strewn everywhere that they were careful not to step on as they walked inside the front foyer. It was a large room with a staircase against one wall leading upstairs, a front desk for registration and signing in with an old-fashioned summoning bell on the hardwood surface. Three doors opened up from the entrance hall. The one to the left opened onto a parlor, the one on the right to what looked like a conference or hosting room, and the one in the back into a large dining room. Assuming the kitchen would be closest to the dining room, they all crossed the empty foyer and went through those doors. The girls gasped in awe at the dining room, which looked straight out of a Victorian house. The walls were covered with a paper that was silver ivy with green leaves on a pale gold background, a large crystal chandelier over the enormous mahogany table, and eight or ten chairs upholstered with silver and dark grey cloth. There were two side boards on either side of the table for holding serving dishes, and three enormous watercolor paintings of scenery.

"It's beautiful!" Nadia exclaimed.

"Erica, they're here!"

Kevin had peeked out of the kitchen at Nadia's voice. He stepped aside as Erica came out. She looked a little frazzled, her hair hanging in her face. She pushed it back and let out a breath.

"Welcome, guys. Nothing to worry about, just a little problem with one of the special effects. It's all about taken care of, so let's get to work, huh?"

"Yeah!" Sota and Joey exclaimed together.

"First thing's first. I told you I film my movies linearly. So we need to get you main six set up for the car crash scene-"

"Car crash?" Rin asked, sounding nervous.

"Not to worry. You're not going to be in one. Here's how it works. Follow me, please. Daisy, Mark, you too." She went around them and back out. They followed her, listening to her as she went. "Rin and Ishio will be in one car, while Yugi, Joey, Nadia, and Sota will be in the other. We have two of each car. Two black Camaros and two maroon Ford Fusions. We'll film some short scenes of the two groups driving along the road out front, then park you and get your dialogue while you're stationary. We'll use special effects to keep the scenery going through the windows with some green screen shots and CGI. Then two of my stunt people will suit up, get in the two other cars, and crash out front. We'll film that, then get you guys in makeup-"

"Makeup?" Sota asked, frowning.

"That's the movie term. And, yes, some of it is actual make-up. Powder to make the lights shine less off your skin and keep any dark circles from appearing. Set lights are harsh. But it's also the fake blood, the fake scratches and bruises and such."

Sota didn't look too happy, but he didn't protest. Yugi decided to contact Yami again, since it seemed they wouldn't be meeting them at the cliff anytime soon. When he told him what was going on, there was a slight pause, before Yami said that Tristan eagerly wanted to see the car crash.

/I don't know if Erica will care if you watch. But you could come up and see, anyway. Are you coming now?/

/Yes. We did not start the lunch yet, we were waiting for you. We will just pack up and be there shortly./

Yugi turned his attention back to Erica as she led them out of the Inn. She gave them a brief verbal tour as they walked down the front walk to the long driveway. "Out front here is the road access you guys came down. On beyond the road leads to a logging company. So, we'll have to hope there aren't too many days of logging sounds getting in the way of our taping, but I'm not too worried. Kevin and I drove out there the other day, and it looked pretty abandoned, so maybe it's not even in business anymore. Out back is our little camp. We've got our makeup trailers, equipment trailers, an office trailer for paperwork and being contacted by my employees at the studio and my liaisons. There's a soundproof trailer back there for reviewing some of our footage or for me or Kevin to watch via a computer link hooked up to a small webcam attached to our two main video cameras to help us see ahead of time if there's any problems with what our cameraman and soundman are getting. We've also got a mobile food kitchen back there to get you guys fed during the day. We're using this Inn here for shooting purposes, but we're not using any appliances or anything in there, so, when you guys are hungry and you're not on set or in makeup, go ahead back there and get something from Candy. She's our on-set cook and she makes the best American junk food you ever tasted. Right now she's reading up on making some Japanese treats, too, and she'll be delighted if you ask to test her skills. Okay, that's most of it."

Yugi tried to keep a mental map of what she'd told them. "Are we staying overnight during any of these shoots?" he asked.

"I don't know. Probably not. I'll sure try not to. Not because I don't want to pay to put you guys up, but because the Inn isn't open to guests at the moment. One of the reasons we're doing our shoots here is because the Cherrywood is undergoing a lot of renovation on the upper floor, the parlor, and the Innkeeper's quarters. And there's no hotels anywhere close enough to bother with when we can bring you with the bus in the mornings and take you back in the evenings."

"When are we going to get our second Acts?" Sota asked.

Erica laughed. "Don't jump the gun. We haven't even started filming yet. We're going to finish the first Act before you guys even see the second one. I hope you all know your lines?"

They nodded, some with conviction, some without.

"What happens if we're horrible?" Daisy asked in a tiny voice, asking the question Yugi wondered himself.

Erica smiled at her kindly. "Don't you worry about that, honey. I've never booted someone off a project who didn't deserve it for being a jackass. I know you all are amateurs. That was the reason I chose you. You'll all do fine. If I have to work with you all one-on-one, more fun for me. But you'll be surprised how easy it is, especially when it's horror. This is no great thespian production. But, if you want some off-set coaching, don't hesitate to ask. But first, I'm going to get a feel for all of your innate skills with this first day of shooting first. See how that goes before you start doubting yourself, okay?"

Daisy offered a shy smile of gratitude. Erica grinned back, then stopped and turned around, hands on her hips, causing them all to stop jerkily. Surveying them with back and forth sweeps of her gaze, she smiled.

"All right, guys, are you ready? Let's get started."

tbc…

A/N: Hello, everyone! Sorry about the huge gap. I've been busy with school, with work, and had a brief stint in the hospital. I'm a-ok now and back to writing, so please forgive me. I've been so happy with the reviews I've seen- they really warm my heart. Here's two chapters, hopefully not too short, to make up for my absence, and I will, will! have another chapter up within two weeks at the latest. I do hope you're all using notifications instead of coming every once in a while to see whether I've updated. It makes it a lot less work for you on my spazzy part.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Yugi's internal butterflies fluttered at that. But Joey and Sota whooped and Nadia grinned excitedly. Erica's smile widened and she clapped her hands. "From here on out, you're working stiffs, got it? Let's act professional. Let's be courteous to each other and the crew. And let's make a great movie!"

"Yeah!" Joey crowed.

"First thing's first. The opening scenes. We're going to skip the traditional opening scare scene for now, just to get you all started on your own lines and stuff. We'll go back to the scare scene once my makeup people are all set up and we have the special effects ready to go."

A woman hurried up to the group, clutching what turned out to be a bunch of tiny microphones in her hands. She started handing them out to everyone.

"These are your microphones," Erica said. "Those clips there are called toupee clips and they'll hold these microphones in your hair. The sound quality and field pick up of these little babies are excellent, so talk normally. We'll also have a boom mike and take the best audio from whatever source."

Erica took a microphone from the assistant and walked up to Rin. She stuck the clip between her teeth and parted Rin's hair, before taking the clip and attaching it. Then she finger combed Rin's hair back into place and studied her from a couple of angles.

"Good, completely hidden. Each of you will have one of these on at all times while you're on the set. They're wireless and remote-controlled, so don't worry about turning them on and off."

It turned out that the mikes and clips came in various colors. Two were red for Nadia and Sota, one was blond for Joey, two were brown for Rin and Mark, and three were black for Ishio, Daisy, and Yugi. The assistant and Erica placed the mikes in all of their hair, Ishio accepting his with a sour scowl. The clip did not feel particularly pleasant in Yugi's hair and even he could manage only a forced smile when the assistant teased that with his spiky hair, the microphone wouldn't be seen even if it wasn't only two inches long and colored to match his hair.

The assistant hurried off as soon as the microphones were placed and checked. Erica pulled a radio clipped to her belt from under her jacket and told someone they were ready to go. The man on the other end of the radio acknowledged. Yet another person had come up from the Inn's direction. He was holding a pair of wireless headphones, which he held out to Erica. She thanked him and put them on, adjusting them over her ears. The man departed without saying anything further.

Yugi turned as he felt the mental nudge of his dark. Yami, Tea, and Tristan were walking up along the driveway behind them. Yugi smiled warmly in greeting, noting with amusement that Tristan seemed excited to the point of wetting himself. Yugi gave Yami and Tea hugs, greeting his friends with a mix of relief and trepidation that they were really here to see him make a fool of himself trying to act. Joey greeted them, too, smacking Tristan lightly on the shoulder.

"Glad you could make it, T."

"I am so jealous," Tristan whined. "Why can't I be in this movie? I'm way better looking than you."

"Watch it," Joey rest of the group had turned around to see what was going on. Nadia bounced up eagerly, grinning broadly.

"Who are your friends?" she asked.

"Yes, who are they?" Erica agreed. Her expression seemed slightly reserved and Yugi worried they should have asked her beforehand.

"These are our friends, Tristan, Tea, and Yami," Yugi said. "They came to support us."

"Can they watch?" Joey asked. He smiled sheepishly. "I guess we shoulda said something first."

Erica seemed to hesitate for a second, then she smiled brightly and stepped forward to extend her hand to Tristan. "Of course. Maybe just this time, though. I don't want any spoilers taking place."

"Thanks!" Tristan said enthusiastically, shaking her hand.

"No problem." She shook hands with Tea, then turned to froze. Yami paused with his hand in hers, looking at her with concern. Erica stared at him, then looked at Yugi, who smiled nervously.

"Um, we're related," he lied lamely.

"So it seems." Erica seemed to realize she was acting strangely and smiled, shaking Yami's hand. "Sorry about that. Welcome to the set." She confirmed Yami's earlier fears by laughing jovially and adding, "Well, at least if we need one, we won't have to look far for a stand-in."

Yami forced a noncommittal smile. Yugi grinned at him behind Erica's back. The others, aside, of course, from Ishio, greeted Yugi's friends warmly, though Sota stared at Yami a little suspiciously, after trying to figure out how there could be someone who looked so like Yugi that he'd never heard of before. Ishio barely even looked their way. Erica allowed a few minutes of easy chatter before she brought their attention back at hand.

"Okay, folks, we're running a little behind, so let's get on this. I need Joey, Yugi, Nadia, and Sota to hop into the Camaro there. Joey, you'll be driving. Er, you do have a valid license, don't you?" When Joey nodded and reached for his wallet, she waved her hand. "That's good enough. Ishio, you have one, too?" Ishio only gave her a condescending look, which she didn't acknowlege. "All right, you and Rin, you're in the Fusion. Ishio, you're driving that one. Keys are in the ignitions. Let's get a start with Ishio and Rin first. Ishio, I want you to drive on down there to that marker down there-" She pointed to a bright pink ribbon tied around a tree about three miles down the road, barley visible from their position. "-and then turn around and come back. The Monster-that's what we call our big dolly-mounted camera, that's it down there-will follow alongside you, getting some shots of you two in the moving car. You don't have to talk or do anything, we're just getting a few moving shots. Once you come back here to the driveway, pull off, and we'll get your lines. Then we'll get the others in their car coming from the other direction and their lines. After that, we'll need to get you guys in the makeup trailer and get you beat up for the crash scene. Any questions?"

No one had any.

"Then here we go. I need everyone to be completely silent." She looked at Yami, Tristan, and Tea emphatically as she said this. "I'm going to be listening in to the dialogue through these headphones and I need to be able to hear everything. Once the cameras are rolling, no one says anything at all, no coughing, no sneezing. You do it, you're booted off. Okay? Good."

Ishio and Rin headed over to the rather ratty-looking maroon Fusion parked in the driveway facing out to the road. Ishio climbed into the driver's side and started the car. It's motor sounded old and rough, as if something was grating inside of it and it's muffler was shot. A plume of blue oilsmoke puffed out of the tailpipe. As Rin got into the passenger side and shut her door, Ishio put the car into drive and pulled forward, turning left into the road and driving east towards the marker. The blue oilsmoke continuously leaked out of the car's rusted tailpipe, drifting into the trees on the other side of the road. As Yugi stood in a rough line with the others along the road, he now saw what looks like a track lying along the length of the road on the other side. Down the street the Monster camera seemed to be resting on the track. It must run along it like a train as it paced the reached the marker down the road. The taillights, one dimmer than the other, lit up as he braked. He made a wide roundabout and turned around to face them again, stopping. Yugi saw a man's figure break away from the platform the giant camera was sitting on and walked up to the car, bending down to talk into the driver's side window. He straightened and returned to the platform. After a moment, Ishio started driving back toward them and the platform moved, keeping pace, the camera pointed at the car. They kept pace halfway, then the camera's platform increased it's speed and pulled ahead, the camera angling back to keep the car in view. Then it fell back, again rotating with the help of the cameraman to get a shot of the back of the car as Ishio went ahead. He reached the driveway and slowed, pulling in and parking as instructed. The camera dolly stopped on the track parallel to the driveway. Yugi saw that the huge camera was mounted on a robotic arm that moved as the operator standing on the platform wanted. A second person sat in a little seat and steered the platform like a little car. The motor on the platform almost entirely silent.

"That's our main cameraman there, Steven, and his assistant Vince. The guy driving the platform is our dolly grip, another Kevin. We usually call him K, to keep from confusing him with my assistant. A dolly grip is someone who operates the camera dolly in moving shots, and without him, I couldn't make half the scenes I do. It takes a lot of training to get dolly gripping down. It's a lot harder than it looks. We are lucky enough to have a motorized dolly for our films. Most dollies are pulled or pushed by the grip, but out here, that would be quite the task for K."

The cameraman hopped off the platform. Another man hurried up, holding a shoulder-mounted camera which he handed off to Steven. Steven hefted it, checked it, then turned it on and lifted it up to his shoulder. The dolly grip got off the platform and followed him, while Vince the camera assistant fussed with the dolly-mounted camera. Steven walked over to the car, then crouched a little to angle the camera steadily into the open window. Another man came from back towards the end, carrying a long pole on which the giant boom mike was hung. He stopped behind the cameraman and the dolly grip and hefted it up, holding it out over and behind the camera.

Yugi could just see Ishio and Rin through the windshield of the car. They were talking, clearly saying their lines. Rin ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back behind her ear, then leaned her elbow on the window edge, chin in her hand, looking off into the distance as she spoke. Ishio, hands on the wheel like he was driving, was glaring through the windshield and clearly speaking in a terse voice. The cameraman, the boom mike operator and the dolly grip pacing him, circled around the front of the car in a crescent shape two or three times before Erica suddenly called cut and they stopped. The cameraman lowered the camera, holding it by the handle, and shut it off. The boom mike operator lowered and turned off the mike and the dolly grip turned and went back to the dolly platform.

"All right, Ishio, good job."

Ishio and Rin had exited the car and walked up. Ishio didn't acknowledge the praise, only stopped and turned back to the road, standing a few feet apart from the rest of the group. Rin came to join them, looking a little sour.

"That man is the biggest jerk ever," she said in a low voice aimed at Nadia that Yugi could still hear.

"What'd he say?" Nadia whispered

Rin shook her head. "Nothing, really. I tried to be nice, said we were going to be working together for a while, maybe we should try to get along. He looked at me like he wanted to push me out of the car and then didn't look at me again the rest of the drive."

"I don't know why you guys keep trying," Daisy said. "He clearly doesn't want to have anything to do with us."

"I guess I'm just a nice person," Rin said with a sigh.

"Rin, great job with your lines," Erica said. "I could really hear the emotion you were trying to convey."

Rin flushed. Erica grinned, then waved toward Yugi and Joey. "All right, let's get the other car's shots," Erica said. "We're all reset."

"Good luck, guys," Tea said. "This is so exciting!"

Yugi smiled, his stomach fluttering nervously again, even though he knew they were only driving a short distance with nothing to say. It wouldn't last long. They'd be doing their lines soon enough.

Joey grinned and laughed, slapping Yugi on the shoulder as the four of them walked over to the black Camaro. Joey hopped into the driver's side and started the engine, Yugi getting into the passenger side. Sota and Nadia got in back. The Camaro was clean and in good shape. A plastic water bottle partially filled was in the cup holder and road map lay on the dashboard. Yugi was supposed to unfold it and pretend to be trying to get Joey's character to acknowledge they were lost. In back, Sota had put on some fake headphones and was holding a Walkman. Nadia had a purse she'd be rummaging through, looking for her cell phone, which would turn out to have no reception.

"I'm so nervous," Nadia whispered.

"We'll be great," Sota insisted. "You heard her. If she thinks Ishio can do a good job, we'll be spectacular."

Nadia smiled, appearing cheered.

"There's the signal," Joey said. "Let's do this."

He put the car into drive and pulled out into the street, heading in the opposite direction Ishio had. Yugi took the map off the dashboard and opened it, though he wouldn't be saying anything until after they were parked. They drove along the road two or three miles before Joey slowed at the sight of the pink marker and turned the car around. Yugi saw that the camera dolly had already made it out this far ahead of them and was ready to go. It seemed the platform swiveled back and forth without the wheels leaving the track. The cameraman was on the dolly, the large camera pointed at them, the dolly in the driver's seat and the camera assistant crouched down, hands on what looked like dials that moved the camera as necessary.

Joey started back down the road. Yugi looked out his passenger window as he was supposed to, finding himself staring into the big round glass of the camera's lens. It looked like a big, unblinking black eye, shiny in the light of the sun, blind.

Wondering where that image had come from, Yugi looked beyond it to the trees going by. Then he looked in front out the windshield before looking at Joey, who was driving along at a sedate pace, ignoring everything but what was in front of the car. Yugi would have thought he was completely at ease until he noticed the muscle in Joey's jaw was tense. He was clenching his teeth, clearly more anxious about this than he'd let on.

The drive took only a couple of minutes and then they were pulling back into the driveway. As the cameraman and dolly grip started doing their thing again, the boom mike operator moving away from the group up the driveway a bit where he'd been talking to Erica, Yugi felt his stomach give a swoop and for one horrible minute he thought he was going to be sick.

/Stay calm, Aibou,/ Yami whispered along their link. /You'll be fine. Know that you can do this. You've always had the strength to do whatever you wanted to do./

Yugi felt better at the sense of reassurance coming from Yami. He smiled a bit, relaxing some. He was still nervous, terribly so, but he was not going to vomit on camera. That would be more humiliating than getting booted off the project.

The cameraman, mike operator, and dolly grip were in position by the car. Yugi hastily looked down at the map in his lap, as he was supposed to. It was time for their lines. This was it, they were in the movie, and there was no turning back now.

tbc…

A/N: Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

"Hey, Adam, are you sure you know where you're going?" Sota asked.

"Yeah, I told you I did, man," Joey said. "THis is just the scenic route. Relax."

"Jason, is he really going to the right way?"

"Hey!"

Yugi pulled the map off the dashboard and opened it, pretending to scar it. After a moment, he said, "Yeah, it looks like this turns onto 95 which we can take back to 70 and get home."

"Yeah, but are we going out of our way?"

"Damn it, relax. Enjoy the view."

"Let me see the map."

"No way. Jason, don't give it to him."

"You two are acting like children," Nadia admonished.

"Whatever," Sota said. "Jason, give it."

He leaned over between the seats to try and snatch it from Yugi's hands. Joey let go of the wheel with one to try and push Sota back. They argued, pushing at each other, Joey darting glances from the road to Sota and back again.

"Stop it!" Nadia cried.

"Guys, this is dangerous," Yugi said. "Why can't he look at the map?"

"'Cause I said I got this."

"You ain't the boss. Just you want to come the scenic way doesn't mean I want to. Jason, give me that map!"

"Leave him alone!"

"Look out!" Nadia shrieked.

"Shit!" Joey yelped.

They were pretending to crash. Yugi dropped the map and grabbed the dashboard, bracing for an imaginary impact. He widened his eyes while behind Nadia screamed.

"Cut!" Erica yelled. "All right, guys."

They relaxed as Erica walked over and the cameraman lowered his camera and the mike operator lowered his boom mike, rolling his shoulders to ease the strain from holding the heavy equipment.

"That was great," Erica said. "All of you know your lines, you have your tone down, it really felt real. Except the crash. I want to do that part over. This time, Iw ant you all to jerk on cue, like you're really being struck. We may have to practice a bit, but I want you all to jerk back and then forth together. Like you've been hit by a car. Okay?"

They all nodded.

"Right after Nadia screams. Try to get it together. Let's start at Joey's 'Leave him alone!' line."

She stepped back. The cameraman and mike operator hefted their equipment again and aimed them. Yugi picked up the map again and Sota leaned forward to grab it from him while Joey grabbed his wrist.

"Action!" Erica called.

"Leave him alone!" Joey shouted.

"Look out!" Nadia screamed.

They braced again. This time, when Nadia screeched in the backseat, Yugi flung himself forward, then back against the seat. Beside him, Joey grunted. Erica yelled cut again.

"That was much better. Not quite in sync- Sota was too late, Yugi too early. But nearly. One more time. Count to three in your heads, right after the scream. One, two, three! Okay? Let's go!"

They did the scene over. Erica pronounced that she was satisfied. Relieved, Yugi got out of the car, his heart still knocking and his body feeling shivery-weak with the aftermath of extreme anxiety. When he walked around the car, Joey was waiting for him at the corner of it. He let his breath out in a puff, then grinned. Yugi smiled back at him.

They walked back up the driveway to the group, who congratulated them heartily.

"That was great!" Tristan said. "Even if I couldn't really hear you."

"Yeah," Tea agreed. "This is so exciting! Thank you again, so much, Ms. Lynch-"

"Erica. And you're welcome."

/See? You did a fine job, Aibou,/ Yami said.

/It's only started,/ Yugi responded. /But thanks./

"You did such a good job," Rin said to Nadia. "Unlike him," She pointed at Tristan, "I could hear you."

"I wish I'd been able to hear you," Nadia said.

"Okay, pay attention," Erica said, once they had all reassembled back on the driveway. "Now for the crash. You're welcome to watch, but if you're uncomfortable about it, you can head back to the Inn."

"It's going to be a real crash?" Tea asked.

"Yes. Our stunt drivers are on their way up. We'll get a shot of them crashing, then edit in the group."

"I don't think I want to watch that," Tea said. "Isn't it dangerous?"

"Of course. It's a stunt. Would you like to go back to the Inn?"

"I think I want to, too," Daisy said.

"Aw, come on," Tristan said.

"No, I don't want to," Tea said. She smiled at Daisy. "Want to go back with me?"

Daisy smiled back. No one else wanted to go, though Nadia seemed a little torn. The two girls headed off up the driveway to the Inn after saying goodbye while everyone else opted to stay. Yugi was glad to see the two hitting it off. Tea was always going on about needing new female friends. Maybe now she'd get one.

A couple minutes later, what looked like a golf cart came trundling down the driveway toward them. The two people on board were a man and a woman in identical black and silvers suits of the type that a racecar driver would wear. On the back of the golf cart, in the basket that normally carried golf clubs, were a bunch of goggles.

"Okay, put these on," Erica said, beginning to hand them out. "I don't expect we'll be near enough to the crash down there, but I'm not taking any chances."

Yugi accepted his pair and put them on. This was dangerous, and he worried for the drivers. There was so much that could go wrong with a stunt like a car crash. Still, these driver knew what they were doing, and so did Erica.

"Some more introductions. These are Christie and Andy Ventura. Brother and sister stunt team and the best around in my humble opinion. I always use them in all of my movies."

Neither Ventura smiled but Christie nodded around and said, "Pretty country you got here."

"Just a simple car crash this time," Erica said.

The Venturas nodded. Both pulled helmets out of the golf cart and headed to the set of duplicate cars. Christie swung into the Camaro and Andy got into the Ford. They pulled out of the driveway and headed in opposite directions. The cameraman was back on the skid, operating the big camera while the boom mike operator was taking a break, his mike propped carefully against the Inn's fence. At opposite ends of the street, Christie and Andy turned around and faced each other. Erica raised her arm, then dropped it. The two cars took off, heading at each other.

"Ooh," Nadia said nervously, raising her hands to her mouth.

The rest watched in silence as the cars approached each other. At the last second, the Camaro slammed on the brakes, turning to the left. The Ford also slammed on the brakes and swerved to the right- or Andy's left. But they were not fast enough to avoid a collision. The Camaro hit the back bump of the Ford, sending it spinning. It went off the road, turning just in time to crash head-first into a tree. There was silence except for the tinkling of hot metal, steam pouring from the Ford, and the sounds of birds, startled by the crash, taking flight. Then, almost as one, the doors of both vehicles opened and the siblings got out.

"We got it, Erica!" the cameraman shouted from across the road.

"Excellent, excellent! Andy, Christie, awesome as always, thank you."

The siblings seemed completely unflustered. They both nodded toward Erica, then got into the golf cart and headed back to the Inn.

"That was so cool!" Sota exclaimed. "They're so cool!"

"Don't talk much," Rin remarked.

"No, they don't, but they're the best around." She smiled. "Of course, they know it, too. Their attitudes show it and they're horrible to deal with."

"Hey, Ishio, you should go ask them to adopt you, you fit right in," Sota said.

Joey, Nadia, and Mark laughed. Rin giggled behind her hand. Ishio gave Sota the same death glare he had given before on the bus. Erica raised her hand.

"All right, that's enough. You all have to work together and nothing is going to stop me from having my movie made, got it?"

tbc…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

Everyone but Ishio nodded. Erica smiled, then spread her hands. "Okay, enough being tough. You all did a fantastic job. It'll get better the longer you do it. Now, I want to get you guys into make up to get you all banged up for the next scene. So, head on up, behind the Inn, to the trailers set up back there. Marie and Joanna are waiting for you."

"What happened to the formal breakfast she promised us?" Joey asked suddenly.

"You're hungry?"

"He always is," Tristan said.

"So are you."

Erica frowned slightly, then smiled. "I'm sure Candy kept some stuff nice and hot. Go on and eat. Anyone who isn't hungry, you can go ahead and get into make up. They're not going to be able to do all of you at once anyway. Yami, Tristan, you're welcome to eat on us, if you want. Tea, too, if you find her and Daisy."

"Thanks!" Tristan said cheerfully.

The pair of them turned and hurried up the driveway. Yugi smiled with long-suffering affection and fell into step beside Yami while the rest walked up with them.

/You did wonderfully, Aibou./

Yugi looked down at the pavement beneath his feet, embarrassed. /Thanks./

/Erica seems like a nice person./

/She is. I think doing this really is going to be fun./

Yami smiled. /Good, I'm glad./

On the porch of the Inn, Tea and Daisy were waiting for them. Tea told them that Joey and Tristan had already hurried by to find the food stand.

"How'd the crash go?" Daisy asked.

"Good," Rin said, joining them on the porch. "The two stunt people came and crashed the cars like it was nothing."

"We saw them in their golf cart. They passed us on the way. They looked really intense."

"They are. The girl said Japan is pretty, and that's it. Just came down, crashed the cars, got back in their cart, and left. Erica says they're really hard to work with."

Tea and Daisy joined the group following after Joey and Tristan. Behind the Inn, Yugi saw a small town of trailers, tents, and portapotties. People were bustling about, shouting at each other, shouting into phones, and hauling equipment. There were cables running everywhere that people stepped over without a second thought, though Yugi found himself having to watch where he was going intently to avoid tripping up.

"Hey! You guys looking for Candy or Marie?" a man shouted to them.

"Are you guys hungry?" Yugi asked the rest.

"Starving," Daisy said.

"We never did get to have our picnic," Tea said, and Yami nodded.

"I'm not. I think I'll get into makeup," Rin said. "Some of us should."

"I'm with you," Sota said. "I can't wait to get some more done."

"I'm not hungry either," Mark said.

The man was beginning to look irritated. He pointed in two different directions. "Candy's that way, Marie's that way."

"Thanks!" Yugi shouted back. "Sorry!"

The group split up, with those who were hungry heading towards Candy's and those who weren't taking the path toward Marie's. The various crew milling around paid them no more attention than brief glances.

Candy's was an enormous food stand of the type seen at fairs and carnivals. In hot pink letters lined with blue lights were the words Candys'-Best Grub You'll Ever Have. Candy herself was visible behind the counter. Indeed, it would have been hard to miss her. She was a gigantic woman. Standing probably six feet two, she was amply busted, thick in the waist, arms, and hips, with a large patrician nose and big, doe-like brown eyes. Her black hair shone like a raven's wings, pulled tightly back from her face. Her hands looked capable of snapping tree trunks.

"Whoa," Joey murmured.

Candy saw them. A grin spread over her mannish, yet appealingly good-natured face. "Hello!" she cried in English, her voice as big as her body. "Hope ya'll speak some English. Sorry, but I cain't make heads nor tails of ya'lls' language."

"We speak English," Joey said in that language.

"Great! What cain I get ya'lls? Got American, Cajun, Italian, French, Spanish, German, and been learnin' to make ya'll's Japanese. What'll ya'll have?"

"Uh…"

Menu's right thur." She waved a ham hand at a long whiteboard scrawled with various junk food dishes in different colored marker. There were no prices.

"All's free," Candy said, resting her upper half on her folded arms on the counter. The wood groaned. "All on Erica and her company. If'n ya'll's confused 'bout anything', I kin tell ya'lls what's what."

Yugi thought her accent might be heavy Southern. It made it difficult to understand her, and he saw Daisy looking completely flustered.

"How about we just order whatever's easiest," Tea suggested in Japanese. "She's hard to understand."

"What does the crew usually ask for?" Joey asked in English.

"Oh, 'bout everythin'."

"That's helpful," Tristan muttered.

"Ya'll's lookin' mighty lost. How 'bout I just gets ya my most popular dishes?"

"Sounds good," Joey said, relieved.

"So, ya'll's the new actors," Candy said, once they'd been served a strange mish-mash of dishes. Jambalaya, chorizo quesadilla, teriyaki, miso soup, shrimp gumbo, and French eclairs and German chocolate cake for dessert. "How're ya likin' it?"

"It's great," Joey said around a mouthful of food. "Erica's great."

"Yep, she is," Candy agreed. "Ya know, that lady, she don't forget nothing. I gots me six kids stateside 'n' she don't forget a birthday, nor me and the mister's anniversary. She's like that with everybody."

"How long have you worked with her?" Tea asked.

"Oh, I reckon it's been about ten years, in betweens the kids. I was there for her first international movie she made."

"Twelve Ways to Die," Joey said enthusiastically.

"Yuh. You're one of her big fans, I take it."

"Yeah."

"Me too," Tristan said, a bit put out. "But I wasn't there for her casting call."

"She's good people. I don't like her movies much myself, but the woman's good."

"This food's good, too," Joey said. "Man."

"Why thank ya." She looked at a watch clamped around one meaty wrist. "Ya'll's got some time yet, I reckon. Takes them girls 'bout an hour to do the makeup, even just the little blood."

"You said you've been with her about ten years," Yugi said.

"Yuh."

"The news said there was a lot of accidents on the sets of her movies."

He felt Yami's surprise and disturbance at that news, and saw Tea look over at him sharply. Candy's expression grew harder, like she was sizing up Yugi's reason for asking about them.

"Been some, yuh."

"I didn't know that," Tea said, looking extremely worried. "Is this safe?"

"Everythin's got it's risks," Candy said. "I tol' ya, Erica's a good woman. She feels terrible about any accidents, but she cain't stop her work on account of 'em. Lots of people get hurt in cars, but they don't stop making 'em. She takes lots of precautions, but sometimes things happen."

"How often have things happened?" Tea pressed.

"Sometimes," Candy said flatly. "Not every movie. Sometimes several a movie, sometimes none."

Tea looked at Yugi and Joey, troubled. "Are you guys sure you ought to be doing this?"

"Of course they should be," Tristan said. "This is awesome. So what if some accidents have happened? That doesn't mean anything'll happen this time.""That shows a lot of concern for your friends," Tea said reproachfully.

"You worry too much. They'll be fine."

"Yeah, Tea, I know all about this stuff," Joey agreed. "It really doesn't happen that much. It's all sensationalism, you know, draw attention to the movies. She's made dozens of movies. Bound something'll happen sometime or another, but that happens with lots of movies. And we're not going to be doing stunts or whatever, you know. Just the acting, the dialogue. You saw, the stunt was done by those two siblings. If anybody's going to get hurt, it's them. We'll be fine, don't worry about us!"

"Well… if you're sure."

"Doesn't matter, he wouldn't change his mind anyway," Tristan said.

"Damn right."

Yami looked at Yugi directly in the eyes. Yugi offered him an uneasy smile.

tbc…

A/N: Okay, that was way too ridiculously long a wait, right? Well, let's put it in the shortest terms possible. Life sucked, I got help. Also some minor health stuff. I'm better. Still struggling with the oomph to write, but I came back, right? If you're still reading after all this bullshit… THANK YOU!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen:

It wasn't long before they were finished eating. For the first time, Joey was finished before anyone else. Despite the fact that he ate like the end of the world was coming, Joey generally ate so much that he was always still eating when others were done, but now he was so excited that even his monstrous appetite was curbed. He fidgeted impatiently while the rest ate at their own pace, asking Candy endless questions about Erica, her movies, and what it was like working on the set.

"Always busy, most times," Candy said. "There's lots of people here 'n' they're always hungry. I gots me some assistants, thank the Good Lord, but both of them's on breaks. Always a real test for my skills, but that's the way I like it. Always findin' new things to cook up. Cain't really tell you too much about anythin' else here, 'cause I don't do nothin' but the cooking. Sometimes on break I go and watch the filmin', but I don't like the blood much."

"So how did you get in with a famous horror movie director if you don't like horror movies?" Daisy asked. "I mean, I'm not a huge fan either, but she just found me in the street."

"Oh, pretty much how it always happens in this business. Connections. I was a small-time cook workin' back home and sometimes doin' fairs and whatnot when Joanna's brother moved to Texas and became a good friend a'mine. When Erica was just startin' out, she wanted a caterer, and couldn't afford no one expensive, so Adam told her and Joanna I had the best food he ever tasted, and she came out and agreed and here I am."

Finally, everyone was done eating and Joey urged them up to head over to Marie's. As Yugi looked at the huge array of dishes and utensils from the six of them eating, he offered to help Candy clean up. She laughed.

"Aww, well, ain't you sweet. It's my job, honey. You go on and get your'n started. You don't want to make Erica mad, no, sir." Yugi blinked, and Candy smiled brightly. "She might be a nice lady and a great boss, but, well, you don't make tons'a famous movies without gettin' a little bit used to gettin' yer own way, now do ya?"

"Come on, Yug!" Joey whined petulantly.

"All right, Joey, I'm coming. Thanks again, Candy."

"You have yerself a good time, ya hear, honey?"

Yugi joined the rest of the group and headed back toward Marie's makeup trailer. It was an enormous dull silver house on wheels, larger than most mobile homes. The main door, side door, and all of the windows were open. Lounging outside, smoking a cigarette, was Mark, showing a vice he'd hadn't shown before. He was devoid of makeup, because his character was not in use yet.

"Hey, guys. They just got done with the others."

"Is that the rest of them?" Marie's girlish voice proceeded her in the doorway. She was wiping her hands on a stained towel. "Good. I don't have to send Joanna to go get you. Come on, the two of you with parts in the crash. The rest, you all hang out, okay?"

Yugi and Joey climbed up the steps into the trailer. Ishio was standing at the far end by the window. Bright red was smeared down the right side of his face and splattered on his shirt. He was standing, unsurprisingly, with his arms folded across his chest. Rin still sat in a revolving chair, Joanna leaning over her and applying the last bit of red to her knuckles, as if she had hurt her hand in the fake car accident. Sota stood off to the other side, fiddling with his red-stained shirt. His bottom lip appeared to have been split open, spilling blood down his chin. Nadia, though also with light-softening make up on her face, looked normal except for her hair in disarray.

"Okay, Rin, you're all done," Marie said.

Joanna, still silent, stepped back. Rin got to her feet, moving out of the way to stand near Sota. Marie patted the armrest of the second chair that was empty in front of a bank of mirrors and bright lights.

"Yugi, here with me, Joey, sit there with Joanna."

Yugi walked over to the chair and climbed up into it while Joey bounced eagerly into the other chair, nearly upsetting Joanna's free-standing makeup tray as he hit it with his hip. She saved it from tipping over, but smiled at Joey's big grin. Marie turned to Yugi, putting her foot on a pedal and pumping it to raise Yugi up, the chair exactly like the one found at a barber's.

"Hope you don't mind getting your shirts all messed up," Sota said. "They didn't tell us that part."

"Yeah, sorry, honey," Marie said dismissively. "We would have had costumes for you guys," she added to Yugi and Joey, "but one of the new assistants to the costume designer borked his job and they're not arriving until tomorrow morning and Erica wanted to get started. Every delay is more time lost, after all. Don't worry, she's going to pay you for the clothes."

"Who cares?" Joey said quickly. "It's no big deal, it's just a shirt."

Marie laughed. Joanna didn't react, instead just started dipping a cotton ball in a jar of something. She leaned forward and started smearing the pale semi-solid on Joey's face.

"Foundation," Marie explained, picking up her own jar and cotton ball. "It'll take the sheen off your skin under the stage lights and even your skin tone."

She turned to Yugi and raised the cotton ball, beginning to add foundation to Yugi's face. The makeup was heavy and odd-feeling on Yugi's skin, but he didn't complain. After the foundation was added to Yugi's face and even his neck, she picked up what even Yugi could name; a compact. Powder was added, then Marie picked up another jar and bent closer. For several minutes, she dabbed something on Yugi's forehead, then stepped back and picked up something red from the collection of jars and another small dabbing sponge.

"Pity I have to mess up your pretty face," Marie said absently as she started putting the red gunk on Yugi's forehead. "Good thing it's only temporary."

Yugi struggled not to blush, suddenly glad for the heavy makeup on his cheeks. He saw Joey looking at him in the mirror and glared when Joey waggled his eyebrows and winked. Joanna, still oddly silent, was adding a small cut to Joey's cheek, and she leaned back as he made faces.

"Marie, can you tell him he shouldn't move?" Joanna said, speaking for the first time. Her voice had a pleasant English accent, which was also the language she spoke in. Yugi guessed the reason she had been silent so far was that she couldn't speak in Japanese, and didn't realize the rest of them were bilingual, which Marie informed her of right then. "Oh. Well, then, don't move."

"Sorry," Joey said with a grin.

"You can tease Yugi about Marie coming on to him when I'm done," Joanna added, earning a pleasantly surprised laugh from Joey, a squeak from Yugi, and a glare from Marie.

"Excuse me, telling him he's cute isn't coming on to him," Marie said, waving the red-tipped dabbing sponge.

"Right, right, sorry, love. I forgot, it's Kevin you have the hots for."

"Enough!" Marie snapped. "You know he's engaged, so quit it already."

"Yes, but he's not married yet, I say you still have a chance."

"You're awful! Don't you know what engaged means?"

"I come from London, love, our education system's much better than you Yanks'. Don't *you* know it's not legal until-"

"Come off it, Joanna. Just because you'll 'shag'," she made derisive quotation marks with her fingers, "any 'bloke' who gives you a smile-"

"Yes, and I'm much happier than you, so you ought to try it sometime."

Marie made the screeching growl of annoyance women were so good at, noticed everyone else uncomfortably shifting and looking around, and glared back at Joanna. "See, is this the sort of professionalism you show in Merry Ol' England? You want this getting back to Erica?"

"We won't-" Sota started.

"Hang on," Joanna interrupted, "you're accusing me of being unprofessional? Look at that wound on Yugi's forehead, it'll be clear as day it's fake."

"Uh-oh," Nadia whispered as the tension in the room doubled.

"*I* am not done," Marie said with venom.

"Clearly," Joanna said snidely.

"Uh, ladies-" Sota started, then went silent as both women glared at him. He looked down at the floor and fidgeted until they turned back to each other.

"You are *my* assistant, Joanna, I deserve some respect."

"You'll get your respect, love, when you give me a reason to give it."

"How about not being fired?" Marie growled.

"Oh, please, what would you do without me?"

"Get my work done without you mentally fixing me up with every swinging dick that walks by."

Yugi was struggling not to squirm, despite how terribly uncomfortable he was, so that the women's attention wouldn't focus on him. Next to him, Joey had his fist in his mouth and he realized that his boyfriend was struggling not to burst into childish giggles. In the mirror, he could see Rin, Nadia, and Sota looking as uncomfortable as he did, while Ishio was glaring at the pair with such malignant disgust, he could probably cause them cancer. Marie abruptly turned back to Yugi, making him twitch instinctively, but she was just leaning over him to add some more red to his forehead.

Joanna saw Joey nearly breaking a rib trying to hold in his laughter, and she gave him a wicked grin. Clearly she approved of his reaction. Winking at him, she picked up a piece of latex and leaned back over him, beginning to affix it to Joey's cheek.

"Stop smiling," she said. "It's hard to get it to stick like that."

"Sorry," Joey said, clearly trying to make his features smooth.

Marie rolled her eyes and then picked up a small bottle and started adding what the mirror revealed to be streaks of blood running down his face from the wound on his forehead. She carefully diverted the trickles from Yugi's eyes, told him the stuff was going in his mouth, and let it run over his lips. It ended up tasting like cherry Kool-aid, at least.

"There," she said, stepping back and setting the small bottle of red liquid on the counter. "What do you think?"

Yugi studied his full face in the mirror. On his forehead, just slight to the right of the center of his forehead, was what looked like a small cut in his skin. Thin red trickles ran from the wound down his face, dripping off his chin and staining the collar of his shirt. It looked eerily real, as if he'd really been struck in the face.

Joanna leaned over to Yugi and stared at the wound Marie was had finished.

"Mind getting your nose out of my business?" Marie asked.

"Yugi, I do hope you won't take her work as standard for all of us."

Marie glared at Joanna, who smiled provokingly. Marie shifted, her jaw clenched, and slowly put the red-tipped sponge she was still holding down on the counter. She turned fully to Joanna and stepped toward her until they were an inch apart. Yugi watched nervously.

"Ladies, it's okay," Yugi said. "Marie, the wound looks great."

"Stay out of this, lovey," Joanna said without taking her gaze from Marie. The women were staring each other down like a pair of dogs about to attack.

Even Joey wasn't amused now. He stood up, about to intervene, but he was saved by Erica arriving in the trailer. She climbed aboard without announcement, paused in the doorway, and surveyed the scene. Her response wasn't expected.

"Ladies, again? Don't you think this joke has gotten old?"

"Joke?" Joey repeated.

Marie and Joanna sighed theatrically. In an instant, the tension was gone as if it had never been there. "Erica, way to ruin it," Marie whined.

"I should have warned you," Erica said to the puzzled group. "These two like to pretend to criticize each other's work and then get into a fistfight to freak out the new ones."

"You take all the fun out of it," Joanna said as everyone relaxed.

"It's childish and you should know better," Erica said without the slightest trace of anger. "Now, are you done with them, or not?"

"'Course we are," Joanna said, waving toward the group. "We're professionals first."

"Right." She gave the group a cursory looking over, then nodded. "Looks good, ladies. All right, boys and girls, come on."

She turned and exited the make up trailer. Yugi got out of his chair, seeing that Joanna and Marie were now standing against the counter with their arms around each other's shoulders like the best of friends, grinning. He offered them a weak smile back, and was glad to exit the trailer out into the sunshine, Joey on his heels. Tea gasped when she saw the wounds on their faces.

"That looks too real," she said, leaning down to peer closely at Yugi's forehead.

"Yeah," Tristan said, looking at the fake cut on Joey's cheek. "Too bad it's not real, though. You could use the scar, Joey."

"What? Why?"

"Well, if you and Yugi ever break up and you try to date someone else, you'll need *something* to attract people. Your looks and personality sure aren't enough."

Joey growled and swung at him. Tristan laughed and dodged easily. Tea sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Here we are getting all the flak from Erica," came Joanna's voice behind them. "And these two do the exact same thing."

"I wasn't playing," Joey said. "He stands still long enough, I'll knock his block off."

Everyone, even Marie and Joanna, could tell that Joey wasn't serious. The two women were the only ones close enough to the group to have heard the exchange. Erica was walking away toward the set, already a distant figure, and Ishio was behind her, walking hunched over like he was trying to ward off any attempts to talk to him while Nadia, Rin, and Daisy were examining the fake injury on Rin's hand and exclaiming over how real it looked, and Mark and Sota were standing at the far corner of the trailer, speaking about something Yugi was too far away to catch.

"So, you two are together?" Joanna asked, waving her hand between Yugi and Joey. "Pity. All the pretty ones are gay." Joey blushed to the roots of his hair as she gazed at him.

"Even if they weren't, you're way too old for either of them," Marie said with a big grin.

"Oh, come off it, pumpkin, they already know we're faking."

"That doesn't mean I wasn't telling the truth."

Joanna threw her arm around Marie's shoulder. "You're two years older than me, so what does that mean for you?"

The pair were starting to walk toward the set after Erica and Ishio. The trio of girls, Mark, and Sota looked up and hurried to join the rest as they started off back toward the cars. Marie and Joanna were still good-naturedly arguing.

"It means I'm wise enough and mature enough to know when I'm too old for someone," Marie said. "I don't much like the idea of dating someone I could have had in high school."

"That's the fun!" Joanna said. "Nice, young bloke with the stamina to show a girl a real good time." She flashed a wicked grin over her shoulder at Yugi, as if she knew exactly how embarrassing the conversation was to him. He was glad when Yami distracted him.

/Aibou, that injury is disturbingly realistic,/ he said. /I don't like it./

/It's just make up and latex./

/Yes, but it looks like you're injured, you and Joey both. That makes me uncomfortable./

Yugi smiled sweetly at his dark half. /Then maybe you shouldn't come watch us make this movie, then, because if Erica's other stuff is any indication, we're going to end up looking a lot worse than this./

Yami frowned.

A/N: Kind of an odd place to leave it off at, I know, but it took me so damn long to finish it, not to mention the next scene really belongs in a different chapter. Sorry to all who wait on me- I know I suck. Enjoy this chapter and hopefully this Halloween-y mood will get me back into writing this more often.


End file.
